Nigeria won’t seek suspension of interest payments from Eurobond holders - FG
- Nigeria's minister of finance has said the country will not ask for a suspension of interest payments from its Eurobond holders
- As the government seeks for funds to battle COVID-19, Zainab Ahmed said Nigeria will ask China for debt relief instead
- This is coming as the struggle to come up with measures to manage the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic continues
A report by Bloomberg indicates that Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget, and national planning, said Nigeria will not be seeking a suspension of interest payments from its Eurobond holders as the government races for funds to fight against coronavirus.
The minister who disclosed this in Abuja, the nation's capital on Tuesday, April 7, also said the country will instead seek debt relief from China.
She said: “We have not considered investors of our commercial paper. If it happens anywhere, if it’s something that would work, then we will look at it, but right now we are looking at multilateral lenders.”
However, the finance minister without noting how much the federal government expects to save in payments this year, said talks are scheduled to be held with China to seek a deferral of interest payments on bilateral loans.
Ahmed said: “We will talk to the Chinese. We will negotiate multilateral loans and bilateral loans and where we get accommodation we will take it.”
Source: UGC
According to Nigeria's Debt Management Office, the country paid $771 million in interest on its Eurobonds last year compared with $329 million in debt service to multilateral creditors.
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Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government is seeking the Senate’s approval for a N500bn loan to help contain the rising cases of coronavirus across the country.
The minister of finance budget and national planning disclosed that the loan would be used to establish a N500 billion COVID-19 crisis intervention fund,
She made the disclosure during a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly on Saturday, April 4. The minister said the crisis intervention fund would also be used to upgrade Nigerian healthcare facilities.
Similarly, the presidential committee on the impact of the coronavirus on Nigeria’s economy has disclosed that the Nigerian economy is facing serious challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The committee made the disclosure on Thursday, April 2, after a meeting with President Buhari in Abuja where the president was briefed on current happenings around the world due to COVID-19 and its impact on the country’s economy.
Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum resources, who is also a member of the committee, said the Nigerian economy was not in the best shape due to falling oil prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In other news, Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, who claims there is no medicine for the coronavirus yet, disclosed that the pandemic is capable of unleashing a terribly overwhelming effect on the healthcare system and destroying the economy.
The minister made known this while speaking at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja where he was giving an update on the activities of the presidential task force on Covid-19 which he is a member.
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Source: Legit.ng
