World Bank Backs Nigeria's Progress with $2.25bn

The World Bank grants Nigeria $2.25 billion to maintain the momentum of change.

The World Bank approves $2.25 billion in funding to support Nigeria's economic reform efforts and help the country's most vulnerable citizens, aiming to stabilize the economy, increase non-oil revenue, and protect oil revenue for fiscal sustainability and public services.

$2.25 billion has been approved by the World Bank for Nigeria in order to help the country's poor citizens, maintain the momentum of reform, and mobilize non-oil resources more quickly.

The bank announced two financing interventions: $750 million for the Accelerating Resource Mobilization Reforms (ARMOR Programme-for-Results) and $1.5 billion for the country's Reforms for Economic Stabilization to Enable Transformation (RESET Development Policy Financing Programme, DPF).

According to the World Bank, the combined package offered the nation's urgent attempts to stabilize the economy and increase aid to the weakest and most economically vulnerable citizens instantaneous financial and technical help.

In addition, the intervention aimed to help Nigeria's multi-year, ambitious plan to increase non-oil revenue and protect oil revenue in order to support fiscal sustainability and ensure enough funding for high-quality public services.

Nigeria realized it had to change direction quickly in order to remove economic imbalances and improve the fiscal outlook in the face of a precarious economic position.

The government has made the first crucial moves toward reestablishing macroeconomic stability, increasing revenue, and laying the groundwork for future growth and poverty alleviation, according to the bank.

The Bretton Woods institution said that they included bringing the several official exchange rates under one roof and promoting one official rate set by the market, in addition to drastically modifying gas prices to start the process of eliminating the expensive, regressive, and opaque fuel subsidy.

It said that in order to combat inflation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, or CBN, has refocused on its primary goal of maintaining price stability and was tightening monetary policy by raising interest rates when necessary.

The implementation of a targeted cash transfer program to mitigate the impact of rising inflation on the impoverished and economically disadvantaged was also highlighted by the World Bank.

The federal government has launched bold and necessary reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and put the nation back on a sustainable and inclusive economic growth path that will create high-quality jobs and economic opportunities for all Nigerians, according to Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Wale Edun, who welcomed the most recent financing approvals.

Edun declared, “We welcome the support of the RESET and ARMOR programme as we further consolidate and implement our macro-fiscal and social protection policy reforms, consistent with accelerating investment and redirecting public resources sustainably to achieve development priorities.”

According to Ousmane Diagana, vice president of the World Bank for Western and Central Africa, Nigeria's coordinated efforts to enact extensive macro-fiscal reforms have put the country on a new course for economic stabilization and the upward mobility of its citizens.

Diagana emphasized how crucial it was for the federal government to maintain the reform momentum and to keep protecting those who are economically vulnerable and impoverished in order to lessen the impact of rising living expenses on the populace.

He declared, “This financing package reinforces the World Bank's strong partnership with Nigeria, and our support towards reinvigorating its economy and fast-tracking poverty reduction, which can serve as a beacon for Africa.”

The Federal Ministry of Finance's Director of Information and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga, clarified in a second statement that the objectives of the RESET DPF were to safeguard the weak and impoverished, reinforce the nation's framework for economic policy, and free up budgetary space.

ARMOR PforR, on the other hand, promotes tax and excise reforms, enhances customs administration and tax income, and protects oil revenues.

The World Bank's fund for the poorest nations, the International Development Association (IDA), was founded in 1960 and offers grants and low- or no-interest loans for initiatives and programs that increase economic growth, lower poverty, and enhance the lives of the impoverished.

The 76 poorest nations in the world, 39 of which are in Africa, continue to receive significant aid from IDA.

The 1.6 billion residents of the nations who qualify for its aid see improvements in their lives as a result of the facilities.

Since its founding, IDA has provided funding for development projects in 113 nations. Over the previous three years, annual commitments have averaged $21 billion, with over 61% of those funds going to Africa.