Abuja — Nigeria’s Federal executive Council, FEC, has approved a $1 billion concessionary loan from the African Development Bank, AfDB, to support financing the budget and improve foreign exchange supply, Finance Minister Olawale Edun said on Monday.
The AfDB loan will fetch an interest rate of 4.2% for 25 years with eight-year moratorium, Edun told reporters after a cabinet meeting in the capital city, Abuja.
“Federal Executive Council approved a $1 billion concessionary loan for general budget support and to be used to improve forex availability in the country,” Edun said.
“The $1 billion loan from AfDB is a budget support fund for ongoing economic reforms. It is to support government programs … in power sector, social inclusion and the fiscal policy reforms as a whole sector policy initiative.”
*Felix Onuah, Chijioke Ohuocha, editing: Peter Graff & Ed Osmond – Reuters
