Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun, has come out to say that there are no plans to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loans.
Edon during a ministers’ press briefing at the ongoing IMF-World Bank spring meetings in Washington DC.
Edun’s statement is coming a day after the Debt Management Office (DMO) reported that Nigeria’s total public debt for federal and state governments increased by N14 trillion to hit N159.27 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025.
On March 31, the national assembly approved President Bola Tinubu’s $6 billion external borrowing request, a move that raised concerns about oil windfall benefits for Nigeria.
The IMF had said it is expecting at least a dozen countries to demand financial support ranging between $20 billion and $50 billion in the near term.
The Bretton Woods institution asked African countries affected by the Middle East conflict not to delay in seeking financial support if needed.
Speaking on the offer , Edun said Nigeria has no such plans.
“Nigeria has no plans at the moment to approach the IMF or any other source,” said alEdyn
“In terms of the debt stock, nearly half of African countries are or near debt vulnerability levels, even distressed levels.
“The premium that they pay for commercial debt is part of the reason why there is this distress, discomfort in the first place, in terms of the percentage of revenue that has to be given over to debt service, as opposed to health and so forth,” he said.
