Nigeria plans to apply for a $1-billion loan from the World Bank to support this year’s budget once lawmakers approve the government’s spending proposals, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said.
The West African nation is also likely to “kick off” its $1 billion Eurobond sale this week, Adeosun told reporters in the capital, Abuja, on Wednesday, as President Muhammadu Buhari’s government tries to fill the funding gap caused by the fall in the price of oil, its main export. She didn’t give more details or say if Nigerian officials will meet global investors before selling the bond.
Nigeria is betting on a proposed record budget of 7.3 trillion naira ($24 billion) this year to lift its economy out of the worst slump in more than two decades amid foreign-currency and fuel shortages. The International Monetary Fund estimates the economy contracted by 1.7 percent in 2016.
The African Development Bank gave Nigeria a $600-million credit facility in November to invest in power generation, roads, rail and ports. Read full report here.