Nigeria pays $3.4bn IMF debt

Nigeria has been removed from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit outstanding list.

The IMF, in the credit outstanding list covering May 1 to May 6, 2025, disclosed that over 90 countries owe $117.79 billion, noting that Nigeria is not among the indebted nations.

The IMF published the list on Tuesday, May 6.

The institution revealed that it disbursed SDR 2.45 billion to Nigeria in 2020, saying repayments were made between 2023 and 2025.

It noted that SDR613.62 million was made in 2023, SDR1.22 billion in 2024, while SDR613.62 million was paid in 2025.

The development was confirmed by Tolu Ogunlesi, the former Special Assistant on Digital and New Media to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, via a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, May 8.

Ogunlesi, who was serving his second term when the loan was obtained, stated: “This US$3.4 billion (equivalent to 2.454.5 billion SDR; amounting to 100% of our SDR quota) Covid-19 assistance from the IMF to Nigerian governors, under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), has now been fully repaid, in line with the terms of the agreement.

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“A repayment period of 5 years, meaning 2020 to 2025, and a moratorium of 3.25 years, meaning that we had a grace period until Q3 2023 before we had to start repaying.

“So, repayment schedule: 2023-2025.

“PBAT has kept to the terms, and as of May 2025, the loan has been fully repaid. Naija no dey carry last, and we no dey default.

“This is what the repayment looks like, from the @IMFNews website: Outstanding as at June 30, 2023: 2,454,500,000.

“Dec 31, 2023: 1,840,875,000; June 30, 2024: 1,227,250,000; March 31, 2025: 306,810,000; May 07, 2025: 0.”

O’tega Ogra, the Senior Special Assistant on Digital and New Media to President Bola Tinubu, also confirmed the repayment on Thursday.

The Star