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NIGERIANS ARE HAPPY WITH TINUBU| JUST A YEAR PLUS IN OFFICE, TINUBU HAS DONE WHAT NO OTHER PRESIDENT HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE IN OFFICE. SEE FULL LIST OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS HERE.THE World Bank has said it has given the Federal Government of Nigeria $1.5 billion loan for removing fuel subsidies and carrying out other reforms, including the ongoing tax reform bills. ...Tap To Read The Full Story Here | ..Tap To Read The Full Story Here...
According to a report issued on Sunday, December 29 by the bank, the loan facility was in support of some of the reforms initiated by the Bola Tinubu administration.
World Bank had in June 2024, approved the $1.5 billion loan under its Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation (RESET) Development Policy Financing (DPF) initiative.
At the time, it also approved a $750 million Accelerating Resource Mobilisation Reforms (ARMOR) Program-for-Results for Nigeria.
The combined loan of $2.25 billion is to help stabilise the Nigerian economy and scale up support to the vulnerable people in the country.
It is also to support the country’s ambitious, multi-year effort to raise non-oil revenues and safeguard oil revenues, promote fiscal sustainability and provide sufficient resources to deliver quality public services.
According to the report, the $1.5 billion loan disbursed to Nigeria was structured in two tranches with different maturity periods.
The first tranche was a $750 million credit from the International Development Association, featuring a 12-year maturity and a six-year grace period, while the second tranche of a $750 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development has a 24-year repayment period with an 11-year grace period.
The first tranche of $750 million is said to have been disbursed on July 2, 2024, while the second tranche, tied to the fulfilment of specific economic reform conditions, was disbursed in November 2024.
The World Bank disclosed in the report that “Confronted with a fragile economic situation, Nigeria recognised the urgency of changing course and embarked on critical reforms to address economic distortions and strengthen the fiscal outlook.
“Initial critical steps to restore macroeconomic stability, boost revenues, and create the conditions to reignite growth and poverty reduction have been taken.”
It said the reforms include unifying the multiple official exchange rates and fostering a market-determined official rate, as well as sharply adjusting gasoline prices to begin to phase out the costly, regressive, and opaque gasoline subsidy.NIGERIANS ARE HAPPY WITH TINUBU| JUST A YEAR PLUS IN OFFICE, TINUBU HAS DONE WHAT NO OTHER PRESIDENT HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE IN OFFICE. SEE FULL LIST OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS HERE.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refocused on its core mandate of price stability and is tightening monetary policy including by increasing interest rates, as is appropriate to reduce inflation.
“A targeted cash transfer programme is being rolled out to cushion the impact of high inflation on the poor and economically insecure households,” it added.
The International institution hinted that Nigeria had satisfied the conditions for the release of the second tranche consisting of the $750 million loan, as outlined in the Loan Agreement and described below.
It stated further that the government had successfully carried out the programme as outlined in the Letter of Development Policy, dated May 3, 2024, with progress along all areas supported by the DPF.
“We have embarked on bold and necessary reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and put the country back on a sustainable and inclusive economic growth path that will create quality jobs and economic opportunities for all Nigerians.
“We welcome the support of the RESET and ARMOR programs as we further consolidate and implement our macro-fiscal and social protection policy reforms, consistent with accelerating investment and redirecting public resources sustainably to achieve development priorities,” it quoted the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to have said.
Commenting, its vice president for Western and Central Africa, Ousmane Diagana, said “Nigeria’s concerted efforts to implement far-reaching macro-fiscal reforms place it on a new path which can stabilise its economy and lift its people out of poverty. It is critical to sustain the reform momentum and continue to scale up and expand protection to the poor and economically at risk to cushion the effects of cost-of-living pressures on citizens.
“This financing package reinforces the World Bank’s strong partnership with Nigeria, and our support towards reinvigorating its economy and fast-tracking poverty reduction, which can serve as a beacon for Africa.”
The ICIR can report that President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023, declared that fuel subsidy was gone.NIGERIANS ARE HAPPY WITH TINUBU| JUST A YEAR PLUS IN OFFICE, TINUBU HAS DONE WHAT NO OTHER PRESIDENT HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE IN OFFICE. SEE FULL LIST OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS HERE.
But financial statements from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) revealed the federal government paid approximately N3.57 trillion in subsidy on petroleum products in 2023, The ICIR reported...Tap To Read The Full Story Here.
