Nigeria’s borrowing from the World Bank has reached $14.34 billion as of March 31, 2023. This was an increase from the $13.93 billion debt recorded by the Debt Management Office, DMO, as of December 31, 2022.
This means that fresh disbursements on approved loans added $410 million to Nigeria’s debt from the World Bank in the first quarter of 2023.
The IBRD lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, while the IDA provides concessionary loans – called credits – and grants to governments of the poorest countries.
The data obtained from the Washington-based bank showed that Nigeria had a debt of $488.66 million from IBRD and $13.85 billion from IDA as of March 31, 2023.
It was observed that the first World Bank loan was acquired in the fiscal year of 1947, according to data from the World Bank.
Since that period, Nigeria has acquired a total of $7.49 billion from IBRD and $26.17 billion from IDA.
This means that a total of $33.66 billion has been borrowed from the World Bank since 1947.
It was also observed that about $7.29 billion had been repaid on the loans, with $7.86 billion yet to be disbursed by the bank.
The data also showed that about $3.28 billion approved loans were further cancelled.
DMO defends Nigeria’s secured loans from World Bank
Addressing the criticism that greeted Nigeria’s increasing loan profile from World Bank, DMO, in a statement, said the financial institution’s IDA was a positive development for Nigeria.
The statement read in part, “Positive development in the sense that IDA Loans are concessional, that is, they attract low charges and are for very long tenors in some cases, exceeding 30 years. These are the types of Loans required to fund development in countries such as Nigeria.
“By accessing IDA funding, the Government is actively reducing debt service costs, since non-concessional funding is usually more expensive and for shorter tenors. Indeed, it will be inefficient for Nigeria to borrow from commercial sources when concessional funding sources such as IDA is available.”
The debt management office maintained that it is a plus that Nigeria qualifies for such loans.
