By Munachimso Obienyi
The World Bank have stated that Nigeria alongside Ghana are yet to approach the bank as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the framework on debt restructuring.
President of the Group, David Malpass clarified the statement by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed that the country is already in talks with the multilateral institutions on restructuring Nigeria’s debt.
Ahmed, speaking on the sidelines of the 2022 IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington recently, said that one of the objectives of the Nigerian delegation at the meetings was to engage the Brenton Woods institutions on the restructuring of its debts.
We have been engaging the financial institutions to look at the opportunity to restructure our debt to further stretch the debt service period to give us more fiscal relief. Those are some of the things we want to achieve in this meeting” she had stated.
However, responding to questions if the debt restructuring request by Nigeria will be considered, Malpass said, many countries except Nigeria and Ghana are yet to approach both the IMF and the World Bank for a common framework for restructuring their debt.
“With regard to debt restructuring, the World Bank works very closely with the IMF on debt situations, Nigeria has not asked for the common framework under the G20 process”, Malpass said.
