THE Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, has explained why Nigeria did not consider the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the $5billion First Abu Dhabi Bank loan.
Oyedele, while confirming Nigeria’s drawdown of the loan, said it will be in tranches to save borrowing cost, noting: “The approval for that loan went to the National Assembly, so everybody is aware of it.
“It’s for the refinancing of expensive debts and financing of infrastructure, as well as budgets. So, we don’t want to start making press releases each time we do a drawdown. It is not different from any other loan.
“The loan is meant to be a drawdown in tranches, and one of the advantages of that is that if you need $5billion and you take everything at once, you start paying interest, even though you’re not spending all of it now.
“So, this has been structured in a way that makes us even more efficient in the cost of borrowing by taking what we need part time.”
The IMF had warned Nigeria against the loan, which has attracted concerns from financial experts, who Oyedele said were doing a disservice to the country.
