Nigeria seeks substantial loan

NIGERIA wants to borrow at least $1-billion (about R13-billion) from the World Bank to help haul it out of recession and plans to present the required economic reform proposals to the lender this month, officials and diplomats told reporters.

The oil producer, which has been hit hard by a sharp fall in crude prices since 2014, has been in talks with the Washington-based lender for a year to secure a loan to help plug a yawning budget deficit and fund badly needed infrastructure projects.

But the government has not specified how much money it sought to borrow from the World Bank, saying only that it aimed to raise $5-billion (R65-billion) abroad.

It was previously also unclear when Nigeria planned to present its proposed reforms to the lender – which will not consider a loan before it reviews plans to make the economy more attractive to investment.

The government now plans to present its economic reform proposals by the end of February, according to government officials and Western diplomats who declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak publicly.

The Nigerian finance ministry declined to comment on the size of the loan sought or the timing of the submission of the reform proposals.

The World Bank also declined to comment.

A spokeswoman said Nigeria’s economic proposals will be the “basis of which the World Bank will determine with the government the most appropriate lending instrument to support the implementation of the reform plan”.

It was unclear what the government’s economic reform programme would contain. — Reuters