Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, say there are no plans to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loans.
The minister spoke on Thursday during a ministers’ press
briefing at the ongoing IMF-World Bank spring meetings in Washington DC.
Edun’s statement comes a day after the Debt Management
Office (DMO) reported that Nigeria’s total public debt for federal and state
governments increased by N14 trillion to hit N159.27 trillion at the end of the
fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025.
On March 31, the national assembly approved President Bola
Tinubu’s $6 billion external borrowing request, a move that raised concerns
about oil windfall benefits for Nigeria.
The IMF had said it is expecting at least a dozen countries
to demand financial support ranging between $20 billion and $50 billion in the
near term.
The Bretton Woods institution asked African countries
affected by the Middle East conflict not to delay in seeking financial support
if needed.
Speaking on the gesture, Edun said Nigeria has no such
plans.
“Nigeria has no plans at the moment to approach the IMF or
any other source,” the minister said.
‘HALF OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE IN NEAR DEBT DISTRESS LEVELS’
Speaking more broadly on the fiscal conditions in the
African region, Edun said many countries on the continent are close to debt
distress.
“In terms of the debt stock, nearly half of African
countries are or near debt vulnerability levels, even distressed levels,” he
said.
This, the minister said, is due to the elevated interest
rates that African countries pay.
“The premium that they pay for commercial debt is part of
the reason why there is this distress, discomfort in the first place, in terms
of the percentage of revenue that has to be given over to debt service, as
opposed to health and so forth,” he said.
Edun said President Bola Tinubu has lent his voice to the
need for a revised premium that African countries pay, and the way the rating
agencies look at African risk “in attempts to bring down that premium and make
financing of development to African countries much more affordable”.
The minister said African countries need to reform their
economies, automate by using technology, including artificial intelligence, and
crowd in the private sector to cut the reliance on “very expensive and often
uncomfortably high-priced debt”.
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