Nigeria doesn’t need IMF programme, says IMF chief

05 Jan 2016
Chibuike Oguh

Summary

Christine Lagarde is currently on a six-day visit to Nigeria and Cameroon. 

L: Nigerian Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde; and Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Nigeria does not need any special funding programme despite fallen oil prices, which have slashed government revenues by over 40 percent.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Tuesday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Christine Lagarde, said that Nigeria’s determination to boost non-oil revenues in an indication that “an IMF programme is not going to be needed.”

“Let me be very clear: I’m not here nor is my team here to negotiate a loan with conditionalities, we’re not programming negotiations,” Lagarde said.

President Buhari has proposed a N6.08 trillion budget for 2016, with a deficit of N2.22 trillion to be financed by foreign borrowing (N900 billion) and domestic borrowing (984 billion).

“We are working very hard and with the budget as our way forward, we will do our best to ensure that our country survives the current economic downturn,” Buhari told reporters after meeting Lagarde at the State House.

Lagarde is currently on a six-day visit to Nigeria and Cameroon to engage with policy makers and other stakeholders in both countries and from the region and to underline the IMF’s strong relationship with its African member countries.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst


Other Photos/Videos

Advertisement