₦airaland Forum

Contrary to reports making the rounds that Nigeria has been delisted from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) debtors list, a fresh fact emerged on Friday that the country is not completely off the hook.

Nigerians were thrown into a frenzy on Monday when an IMF report revealed that the Tinubu-led administration has completely repaid the $3.4 billion emergency loan it received to control the COVID-19 pandemic after the debt was paid in April, and Nigeria was subsequently removed from the IMF’s debtors list published in May.

According to the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Nigeria still owes millions of dollars in interest; categorized by the IMF as “charges” — which will continue to accrue through 2029, contrary to a post on X by Otega Ogra, a senior special adviser to the president.

In a report titled, “Total IMF Credit Outstanding – Movement from May 01, 2025 to May 06, 2025,” obtained on the multilateral institution’s website on Wednesday, Nigeria was not listed among the debtors, which had 91 developing and least developed countries owing the fund a total of $117,797,656,224 as at May 6, 2025. Total IMF credit outstanding refers to the total amount of unpaid and outstanding principal due to the fund from its member countries.

But just as it is applicable in any loan, principal repayment is only part of the cost, while interest or charge on such loans remains due.

“According to IMF projections, Nigeria still owes SDR 125.99 million in charges. This is the sum of total interest due from now through 2029.

“That figure includes SDR 22.35 million in 2025, followed by roughly SDR 25.9 million annually from 2026 to 2029. These payments are spread out quarterly and are part of the original loan agreement,” FIJ said on its website.

The IMF loan includes standard charges: a one-time service fee of 0.5% that must be paid upfront, along with ongoing interest based on the duration of the loan. This interest, referred to as the “basic charge,” is determined by the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) interest rate, which reflects short-term global rates, plus a fixed margin set by the IMF.

As of May 2025, the SDR rate was approximately 3.0%, with an additional margin of 0.6%, bringing Nigeria’s effective interest rate to 3.6% annually. This interest is calculated quarterly. Therefore, even though the principal was settled in April, Nigeria still owes the interest that accrued prior to that, particularly for the first quarter of 2025.

Racoon:
There is no harm in saying Nigeria have cleared off the main debt but by playing the ostrich in denying the accruing interests on same debt burden is simply mischievous.

It is just like servicing a debt while trying to pay the same debt. However, we have a gang of hardened looters who feel they are not accountable to a nation in legalizing lies as official policy of governance then expect such shame and embarrassment

Racoon:
https://guardian.ng/news/international-debts-why-nigeria-still-owes-imf-millions/

REDshouse:
Interest till 2029..who be those wey enter such loan arrangement in the first place....and what use was the money for

Racoon:
There is no harm in saying Nigeria have cleared off the main debt but by playing the ostrich in denying the accruing payable interests on same debt burden is simply mischievous.

It is just like servicing a debt while trying to pay the same debt. However, we have a gang of hardened looters who feel they are not accountable to a nation in legalizing lies as official policy of governance then expect such shame and embarrassment

SmellingAnus:
That's why it's good for a government to be sincere with their citizens and not having a track record of lying to it's citizens.... The day they will finally speak the truth or part of the truth as in this case, people will still doubt them...

Racoon:
There is no harm in saying Nigeria have cleared off the main debt but by playing the ostrich in denying the accruing payable interests on same debt burden is simply mischievous.

It is just like servicing a debt while trying to pay the same debt. However, we have a gang of hardened looters who feel they are not accountable to a nation in legalizing lies as official policy of governance then expect such shame and embarrassment

Yankee101:
APC govt has been built on lies, from Buhari to Tinubu

jocelynor:
There's no such thing as that, interest na part of loan nothing like i dey principal abi vice for inside

Brendaniel:
Don't let anyone deceive you, Tinubu is like a man who owes palmpay 10,000 with intetest of 2,000 naira then goes to Opay to take a loan of 100,000 naira, he then removes 10,000 from the 100,000 and pays palmpay promising to pay the interest later, then tells you he has cleared his debt and that his financial records have gotten better.

Tinubu has taken about 13.5 billion dollars in loan less than 2 years in office, ask yourself how much he cleared of in IMF if it is up to 4 billion dollars in the same 2 years

FreeSpirited:
Failed govt happy about loan write off

According to IMF projections, Nigeria still owes SDR 125.99 million in charges. This is the sum of total interest due from now through 2029

richmond500:
Ok. So FG has fully repaid it's principal loan. Also, SDR is not a debt, it's just asset on member states

The only thing remaining is interest and charges, this is suppose to be good news na, why are people bittered?

Interest and charges doesn't yield more interest cos interest are calculated on the principal and since the principal is gone, we are free.
It's calls for celebration abeg

richmond500:
Ok. So FG has fully repaid it's principal loan.

The only thing remaining is interest and charges, this is suppose to be good news na, why are people bittered?

Interest and charges doesn't yield more interest cos interest are calculated on the principal and since the principal is gone, we are free.
It's calls for celebration abeg

jocelynor:
There's no such thing as that, interest na part of loan nothing like i dey principal abi vice for inside

richmond500:
it means the loan will not be going up again due to interest.
So Nigeria could take their time to pay up that interest anytime, even if they wait till 2028 before paying it up, there won't be additional interest

jocelynor:
Dey play

AntiChristian:


Why can't we be borrowing from Saudi, Qatar and other rich economies that won't charge us interest?

All these "charges" sef na burden on us!

rinzaugustine:
Traditionally right from Buhari days Nigeria have always borrowed more from Chinese banks than IMF because IMF attach conditions to loans while Chinese banks don’t and that the reason Nigerian government is indebted to Chinese banks to hundreds of billions of dollars in loans

As of May 2025, the SDR rate was approximately 3.0%, with an additional margin of 0.6%, bringing Nigeria’s effective interest rate to 3.6% annually. This interest is calculated quarterly. Therefore, even though the principal was settled in April, Nigeria still owes the interest that accrued prior to that, particularly for the first quarter of 2025.