Nigeria seeking World Bank loan?

Nigeria is currently in talks with the World Bank to help with funding which shall be necessary to maintain the country following a forecast $11billion deficit.

Nigeria is believed to be looking for around $3.5bn from the World Bank and the African Development Bank after being hit hard by the recent fall in oil prices.

Last year’s government budget was largely financed by oil revenue and so the government has been tasked with finding new sources of income to fund its budget.

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, has however stated that Nigeria is not applying for any emergency loans. “We have held exploratory talks with the World Bank. We have not applied for emergency loans,” she told Reuters late on Sunday. “Borrowing from international institutions such as the World Bank would be a cost-effective way to raise money to fund the increased capital expenditure in the 2016 budget” Adeosun said. “Nigeria is deliberately boosting spending on infrastructure development to try to boost the economy as it tries to deal with the oil price shock” Adeosun added.

Nigeria is also under pressure to devalue the Naira as it looks to cope with the devastating effects of falling oil prices.

At the moment, steps such as prevention of withdrawals from Naira cards have been taken to limit the leakages from the Nigerian economy.