World Bank has disclosed that it lent most of its money in Africa to Nigeria, as the country now takes the fourth position on the financial institution’s borrowers’ list.
In the newly-released World Bank’s top 10 International Development Association (IDA) borrowers’ list, Nigeria moved from the fifth position to the fourth with a $13 billion debt stock.
BizWatch Nigeria understands that Nigeria accumulated about $1.3 billion in IDA debt between the end of June 2021 and the end of June 2022. Consequently, the African most populous nation took over the fourth position on the list from Vietnam.
It is, however, pertinent to note that Nigeria’s IDA debt stock is not as same as the outstanding loan of $486 million from World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“Nigeria’s debt remains sustainable, albeit vulnerable and costly, especially due to large and growing financing from the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the Washington-based lender stated.
Should Nigeria be worried over rising debt stock with World Bank?
Nigeria’s debt profile has since been catching economic experts and stakeholders’ attention.
Just yesterday (Monday, August 8, 2022), Bismarck Rewane, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, stated that with the realities on the ground, Nigeria is on the verge of high debt distress.
In a live interview on Arise TV where he made this submission, Rewane lamented how the government is battling debt management problems, such that servicing loans surpassed earnings in the first quarter of the year.
