Nigeria's senate approves external loans worth $2.7 bln

Nigeria's senate approved on Wednesday taking external loans worth $1.5 billion and 995 mln euros ($1.2 billion) from the World Bank and Brazil.

Nigeria is taking on the debt to try to curb the economic hit of the coronavirus pandemic, which last year pushed the country, Africa's largest economy, into a recession from which it began to slowly recover in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The financing includes two $750 million loans from the World Bank, the first for fiscal support for Nigeria's 36 states and the second to offset the pandemic's impact on livelihoods, including food security, and to stimulate economic recovery.

The Export-Import Bank of Brazil is lending Nigeria 995 million euros to help the agricultural sector.

"The borrowings are largely concessional loans with low interest rates and a reasonable moratorium and payback period," the senate said in its report on the funding request. ($1 = 0.8321 euros)

Reuters