The World Bank has explained the nature of the $800 million loan granted to the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari by the bank in December 2021 when the government was contemplating the removal of fuel subsidy.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Shubham Chaudhuri, who was speaking at an event organised by the Bank to assess the nation’s economy in the last six months, revealed that the fund was a loan and not a grant as has been speculated.
He said he expected the funds to be channelled into ameliorating the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable following the removal of fuel subsidy.
It would be recalled that on May 13, 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari sent a request to the National Assembly to approve the $800 million dollars loan meant to cushion the effect of the proposed removal of fuel subsidy.
The then Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, explained that Nigeria secured the facility as a first tranche of palliatives for disbursement through cash transfers to about 50 million most vulnerable Nigerians.
