The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the Federal Government to use the $3.4 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocated to the country for sustainable policies.
The global monetary body told reporters that there are no conditionalities attached to the $3.4 billion SDRs Nigeria accessed from the fund.
Since August 2021, the IMF has been harping on the Federal Government to withdraw subsidies on fuel, devalue the currency, and make electricity tariffs market-determined, among other demands.
When contacted on the status of the SDRs, the IMF said: “There is no conditionality attached to the SDR allocation.”
However, the IMF said it had advised the Nigerian government to adopt the transparent “accounting of the use of allocated SDRs and not use it to support unsustainable policies”.
The global monetary fund also said that the allocated SDR to Nigeria “is not a loan. Thus, there is no repayment obligation for it”.
Though not a loan, countries like Nigeria that drew down on the SDRs will be expected to repay the facility with interest costs, “if a country uses SDRs, that is, it reduces its SDR holdings vis-à-vis its cumulative SDR allocation”.
