By Our Reporter
Nigeria is now the third largest debtor to the Bank’s International Development Association, IDA, as of June 30, 2024, following behind countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan with the first and second positions respectively as stated by the World Bank.
The IDA is a major arm of the World Bank, which is responsible for providing concessional loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries. The loans are designed to promote economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve living conditions in developing nations, and are characterized by low interest rates and long tenors.
Nigeria’s exposure to IDA has reportedly increased to $16.5 billion as of June 30, indicating a rise of $2.2 billion at the end of 2023.
Bangladesh topped the list with $20.5 billion, followed by Pakistan with $17.5 billion exposure.
Nigeria pushed India to the fourth spot with $15.9 billion after the country reduced its IDA exposure from $17.9 billion in 2023; while Ethiopia, Kenya, and Vietnam followed with $12.2 billion, $12.0 billion, and $12.0 billion, respectively.
The three countries at the bottom of the list are Tanzania with $11.7 billion, Ghana with $6.7 billion, and Uganda with $4.8 billion.
“As of June 30, 2024, the ten countries with the highest exposures accounted for 63% of IDA’s total exposure.
“Monitoring these exposures relative to the SBL requires consideration of the repayment profiles of existing loans, as well as disbursement profiles and projected new loans and guarantees,” the World Bank said. Recall that the Debt Management Office (DMO) reported that Nigeria’s total public debt increased to N121.67 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the N97 trillion recorded in December 2023.
According to DMO, the increase was primarily due to new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2024 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The debt office said total domestic debt was N65.65 trillion ($46.29 billion), while total external debt was N56.02 trillion ($42.12 billion).
With additional reports from the Vanguard