By Kolawole Ojebisi
Nigeria is no longer indebted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the country has settled the outstanding loan secured in the heat of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
A check on the IMF website on Thursday revealed this development as the Bretton Woods institution has removed the Africa most populous nation. from its credit outstanding list for the period covering May 1 to May 6, 2025.
According to the current list, more than 90 countries owe a combined $117.79 billion, and Nigeria is not among them.
Information released by the IMF reveals that the institution disbursed SDR 2.45 billion to Nigeria in 2020.
SDR is an abbreviation for Special Drawing Right meaning a type of currency reserve used by the IMF.
According to the breakdown from the IMF’s website, Nigeria steadily made her repayments across three years three year, starting from 2023 and ending in 2025 without defaulting.
IMF, however, did not furnish the public with details of the agreement between the institution and countries which secured loans.
Meanwhile, Tolu Ogunlesi, former special assistant on digital and new media to former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was serving his second term when the loan was obtained, supplied the needed information on the terms and conditions for the credit facility.
Ogunlesi gave the details on his X handle on Thursday.
He confirmed that Nigeria’s payment of SDR2.45 billion fully repays the $3.4 billion Covid-19 loan from the IMF under the rapid financing instrument (RFI).
Ogunlesi said the five-year repayment period had been completed under the current administration, in line with the agreed terms.
“This US$3.4 billion (equivalent to 2.454.5 billion SDR; amounting to 100% of our SDR quota) Covid-19 assistance from the IMF to @NigeriaGov, under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), has now been fully repaid, in line with the terms of the agreement,” he explained.
“A repayment period of 5 years, meaning 2020 to 2025, and a moratorium of 3.25 years, meaning that we had a grace period until Q3 2023 before we had to start repaying.
“PBAT has kept to the terms, and as of May 2025, the loan has been fully repaid. Naija no dey carry last, and we no dey default.
“This is what the repayment schedule looks like, from the @IMFNews website: Outstanding as at June 30, 2023: 2,454,500,000.
“Dec 31, 2023: 1,840,875,000; June 30, 2024: 1,227,250,000; March 31, 2025: 306,810,000; May 07, 2025: 0.”
In a similar vein, O’tega Ogra, senior special assistant on digital and new media to President Bola Tinubu, said, with the repayment, Nigeria is now better placed to strengthen our fiscal credibility and show the world, and Nigerians, that Nigeria is serious about managing our economy with responsibility and vision.
Giving a hint that the loan was a burden the current bore reluctantly but relieved to have cleared, Ogra added that, henceforth, “any future engagement will be proactive, not reactive and will also be based on partnership, not dependence”.
