Full reconciliation of Nigeria’s external debts and those of other debtor-nations with their creditors, has started, it was learnt on Wednesday.
World Bank Group President David Malpass dropped the hint at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting during the ongoing virtual World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings in Washington D.C.
According to Debt Management Office (DMO) data, Nigeria’s total external debts stood at $33.34 billion as at December 31, 2020.
A breakdown of the debt profile showed that Nigeria is indebted to the International Development Association (IDA) $11.12 billion; Eurobonds ($10. 8 billion); IMF ($3.53 billion) and Exim Bank of China ($3.26 billion); among others.
Malpass said the World Bank is focused on helping Nigeria lift 100 million people out of poverty by supporting the government in its efforts to promote growth, job creation and shared prosperity in a sustainable manner.
“As part of these efforts, the World Bank supports Nigeria in ensuring fiscal and debt sustainability, including enhancing debt transparency and debt management at the federal and sub national levels,” he added.
The World Bank, he said, is closely monitoring the debt situation through the joint IMF-World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework and raising debt issues with the government as part of an ongoing dialogue.
Malpass said: “The World Bank also engages with the Nigerian government to improve the quality of public spending. A key objective of the World Bank is to help attract private investment to crowd in financing for investments in infrastructure and human capital, for instance by de-risking private investments through public-private partnerships and foreign direct investments without increasing public debt levels.”
