The $3.4 billion loan to Nigeria which was approved about a week ago has been disbursed to the Central Bank of Nigeria at 1 percent interest rate, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund said.
The fund is a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) aimed at helping Nigeria alleviate the ravaging impact of COVID-19 and resolve the balance of payment issues.
“In emergency assistance, once the board approves, we disburse within days to the country and it goes to the Central Bank in dollars before it’s converted to naira for the Federal Government’s use,” Nairametrics quotes Ms. Georgieva as saying.
The loan is the single largest disbursement by the Bretton Woods institution to any country that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Nairametrics. Georgieva described the conditions of the loan as “quite favourable.”
“The repayment period is five years, up to two and a half years is a grace period and the interest on the loan is 1%.”
Georgieva said that there was a need for all receivers of the emergency funds in Nigeria to keep receipts of expenditure, according to Nairametrics. She called on Nigerians to demand accountability from its leaders in the spending of the emergency funds.
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