The World Bank has stated that Nigeria is among a list of top 10 countries with high debt risk exposure.
The World Bank through its unit, International Development Association (IDA), says Nigeria has a debt burden of $11.7 billion and is the fifth high-risk debtor to the bank.
This is contained in the financial statement for IDA, which was published on Monday.
IDA, a unit of the World Bank, helps the world’s 74 poorest countries to reduce poverty by providing zero to low-interest loans and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.
The statement said, “IDA faces two types of credit risk: country credit risk and counterparty credit risk. As of June 30, 2021, the 10 countries with the highest exposures accounted for 66 per cent of IDA’s total exposure.”
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It said India led the debtors to IDA with a debt stock of $22 billion, followed by Bangladesh with $18.1bn debt stock, Pakistan with $16.4 billion debt stock, and Vietnam with $14.1 billion debt stock.
Other countries on the list included Ethiopia with $11.2 billion debt stock, Kenya with $10.2 billion debt stock, Tanzania with $8.3 billion debt stock, Ghana with $5.6 billion debt stock, and Uganda with $4.4billion debt stock.
The report stated that Nigeria had an undisbursed balance with the World Bank to the tune of $8.656 billion as of June 30, 2021.
According to the financial statement for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), Nigeria has a total of $589 million undisbursed balance, consisting of $500 million loans approved but not yet signed and $89 million signed loan commitment.
The financial statement for IDA disclosed that Nigeria had a total undisbursed balance of $8.07 billion, consisting of $1.462 billion loans approved but not yet signed and $6.61 billion signed loan commitment.
