Updated: Nigeria, others beg IMF, W’Bank for debt relief

Updated: Nigeria, others beg IMF, W’Bank for debt relief

Nigeria and other developing nations have expressed worry over their rising public debt and called for some relief from global creditors, International Monetary Fund and the World.

The G-24, an assembly of developing economies including Nigeria, disclosed this in a series of appeals made at the ongoing meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco.

These nations said they were grappling with unsustainable debts, making it challenging for them to meet their repayment obligations.

Nigeria’s total external debt stock as of June 30, 2023, is approximately $43.2 billion.

Figures from the Debt Management Office show that under the World Bank Group, Nigeria owes the International Development Association about $14 billion and the Int’l Bank for Reconstruction and Development about $485 million.

It also owes the IMF about $3.3 billion.

The members of the G-24 acknowledging the G-20 Common Framework, which is a debt relief initiative by the Group of Twenty (G-20) countries, noted that some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries were not benefiting from this debt relief programme.

They therefore called for a durable debt resolution specifically designed to address the debt problems of those excluded countries at the same time demanding for a more comprehensive and sustainable solution to alleviate the burden of debt for these countries and enable their economic growth and development.

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Mr Wale Edun at the Africa Group 1 Constituency Meeting on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meeting stated that “our member statement urges an efficient debt resolution framework to support post-pandemic recovery and we indeed welcome Zambia’s debt restructuring agreement and call for swift resolution mechanisms for Ethiopia and Malawi.”

The G-24 members also called for more concessional lending, especially for investments in global public goods and sustainable development such as affordable water and energy.

Wake Edun also sought the “elimination of export restrictions on fertilizer and grains, avoiding protectionist policies and leveraging the normalization of supply chains and shipping costs to reinvigorate global trade”.

Edun and other finance ministers expressed their concern with the progress on the IMF general quota review.

IMF general quota refers to the monetary contribution made by each member country to the International Monetary Fund.

This quota determines the country’s relative financial and voting power in the institution. The quota is assessed based on each member country’s share of the world economy, including its GDP, openness to trade, and international reserves.