The clock is ticking towards October, when the rescheduled World Bank board meeting on Nigeria’s request for a $1.5 billion budgetary support financing will be held. The sum which was the first tranche of a $3.3bn funding support was first disclosed in June and due for approval in August, but was postponed.
The Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Asset Management, Johnson Chukwu, told Arise News he is optimistic Africa’s biggest economy will get the money soon because the Federal Government of Nigeria is addressing issues the World bank raised, which were the removal of petroleum subsidy, deregulation of the electricity sector and unification of the exchange rate.
With Brent crude oil prices trading below $45 per barrel, Africa’s biggest economy is in desperate need of funding from the World Bank to keep the macro environment stable and restore investor confidence.
The investment expert also told Arise News that countries such as Angola, Egypt and South Africa received funding from multilateral lenders because they adopted a market oriented efficient environment.
It will be recalled that on Wednesday, September 16, the International Monetary Fund authorized an immediate $1 billion disbursement to Angola under an existing program, and raised its overall access to funding by $765 million to help it contend with the coronavirus pandemic.
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