Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has confirmed POLITICS NIGERIA’s fact check on the recent debt relief by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This newspaper on Thursday published a fact check to correct a report by Punch Newspaper that claimed that IMF excluded Nigeria from its debt relief.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported that Nigeria was never indebted to IMF and there was no need for debt relief.
Confirming this fact check, Mrs Ahmed took to Twitter on Thursday to confirm this newspaper’s factual reportage.
“It is true Nigeria is not a beneficiary of recent IMF debt relief for 25 countries. As stated in IMF Executive Board statement, the relief ‘provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months.
“Since Nigeria is not indebted to the IMF, there is no outstanding debt obligation to be forgiven. Nigeria’s application for new IMF financing is under consideration and receiving attention”, the minister said.
She also said: “Nigeria is entitled to access up to 100 percent of its quota under the Rapid Financing Initiative. Our current financial position at the IMF is public information on the International Monetary Fund website”
The countries that enjoyed IMF debt relief on Monday are Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, D.R., The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo, and Yemen.
