The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday confirmed that Nigeria had fully repaid the $3.4bn financial support it received under the Rapid Financing Instrument to cushion the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement sent to journalists by the IMF Resident Representative for Nigeria, Mr Christian Ebeke, the Fund disclosed that the repayment of the loan, which was disbursed in April 2020 to help Nigeria address a sharp fall in oil prices, economic contraction, and fiscal pressures caused by the pandemic, was completed on April 30, 2025.
The statement partly reads: “As of April 30, 2025, Nigeria has fully repaid the financial support of about $3.4bn it requested and received in April 2020 from the International Monetary Fund under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.”
The Washington D.C-based multilateral finance institution pointed out, however, that despite the full settlement of the principal, Nigeria would continue to honour additional annual payments related to Special Drawing Rights charges of which the country is expected to make annual payments of about $30m in SDR-related charges over the next few years.
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According to the IMF, the charge, which are levied at the SDR interest rate, updated weekly, and will continue until Nigeria’s SDR holdings match the cumulative allocation amount, are tied to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings, which currently stand at SDR 3,164m ($4.3bn), and its cumulative SDR allocation of SDR 4,027m ($5.5bn).
The IMF further clarified: “Nigeria is expected to honour some additional payments in the form of Special Drawing Rights charges of about $30m annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) ($4.3bn) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) ($5.5bn).
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount”, it added.
Available data from the IMF website reflected that Nigeria’s total charge for 2025 would reach SDR 22.35m (approximately $30.24m), with payments scheduled across May, August, and November.
Nigeria’s $3.4bn loan from the IMF was one of the largest disbursements by the multilateral finance institution under the Rapid Financing Instrument globally and came with favourable terms when compared to traditional IMF programmes.
