Nigeria has maintained its fourth position on the World Bank’s top 10 International Development Association (IDA) borrowers’ list after moving up from fifth in the 2022 fiscal year.
Even though Nigeria maintains the fourth position, it has accumulated about $1.3 billion in debt within one year.
This was disclosed in the World Bank Fiscal Year 2022 audited financial statement, which showed that Nigeria moved to the fourth position on the list with $13bn IDA debt stock as of June 30, 2022.
However, the World Bank Fiscal Year 2023 audited financial statement showed that Nigeria owed about $14.3bn IDA debt stock as of June 30, 2023, but maintained its fourth position on the list.
With $ 19.3 billion, Bangladesh moved up the list to become the topmost IDA debtor, taking over from India ($ 17.9 billion debt), which fell to the second position.
Pakistan maintained the third position from the last fiscal year with a debt of $16.9bn.
The World Bank 2022 audited statement also showed that Nigeria has the highest IDA debt in Africa, while the top three borrowers, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, are from Asia.
Also, in the World Bank 2023 Annual Report, Nigeria was among the top 10 countries that acquired fresh IDA loans this year.
The report showed that the bank committed $ 1.55 billion to Nigeria in the fiscal year of 2023, with the country recognised as the ninth-highest beneficiary.
