By Naija Blog Daily – May 8, 2025 | Economy | Public Finance
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion pandemic loan received in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). The loan was part of emergency support during the peak of the COVID-19 economic crisis and global oil price crash.
According to the IMF’s official data update published on April 30, 2025, while the principal debt has been cleared, Nigeria is still liable for annual charges exceeding $30 million (about ₦48 billion at an exchange rate of ₦1,609 per USD). These charges will continue until at least 2029, based on the current Special Drawing Rights (SDR) structure.
In a direct response to SaharaReporters, IMF Resident Representative to Nigeria, Mr. Christian Ebeke, confirmed:
“As of April 30, 2025, Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion financial support requested and received in April 2020 to cushion the pandemic’s economic impact. However, the country is still expected to make SDR charges of around $30 million annually.”
These charges, calculated at the SDR interest rate, are applied to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million or $4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million or $5.5 billion). Payments will cease only when holdings match allocations.
Projected Annual Payments (2025–2029):
- 2025: SDR 22.35 million ≈ $30.17 million
- 2026–2029: SDR 25.9 million yearly ≈ , $34.9 million per year
- Total (2025–2029): SDR 125.99 million ≈ $165 million+
Despite the government’s public claims of total debt clearance under the Tinubu administration, SaharaReporters highlights that Nigeria still owes around ₦274 billion in IMF charges through 2029.
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Furthermore, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reports show that due to Naira depreciation, Nigeria’s IMF-related debt more than doubled from ₦2.5 trillion in 2023 to nearly ₦5 trillion in 2024.
In January 2025 alone, ₦696 billion was spent on debt servicing, far exceeding the monthly budgeted ₦689 billion. Alarmingly, the government allocated zero naira to capital projects that month, raising serious concerns over national fiscal priorities.
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