G20 suspends debt servicing by poor nations By Babajide Komolafe IMF The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has called on the Nigerian g...
G20 suspends debt servicing by poor nations
By Babajide Komolafe
The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has called on the Nigerian government to roll out more fiscal support to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Director, Africa, IMF Africa Department, Abebe Aemro Selassie, made this call during a press briefing to unveil the IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Sub Saharan Africa, at the ongoing World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting in Washington, United States.
READ ALSO:Cargo evacuation not affected by Easter holiday — Nwabunike
According to Selassie, Nigeria falls into the category of countries that are going to be hit the hardest as a result of the outbreak of the pandemic plus the sharp decline in oil prices.
He stated: “Already, the economy was contending with decline in oil prices like we saw in 2015 and so over and above, and of course, oil prices have declined, further complicating policy making environment.
“I think the challenges are really well known and articulated really well in the government’s economic growth and recovery plan.”
Selassie noted that while the medium term focus for the Nigerian government is revenue mobilisation, the immediate focus now should be how to deploy resources to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added: “For the medium term, the challenge for Nigeria we feel is really prioritising revenue mobilisation so that government has enough resources that it can devote to building infrastructure, building the network of universities, public education entities that Nigeria so badly needs. That really is the number medium-term priority.
“The focus we feel over the next four to five years should be to try and put Nigeria in the position where the federal government has sufficient revenues to address development spending needs the country has.
“In the near term, no amount of resources should be spent in putting behind the health crises that Nigeria faces from COVID-19 pandemic. So we see scope for more support of policies.
“In the fiscal side, Nigeria has requested for more support under the Rapid Financing Instrument. This is a quick dispensing resource that government can use to strengthen health spending, to provide social support to people. There is also scope for having the monetary/exchange rate policy framework that will be supportive of the fiscal stance. So we look forward to those policies to be adopted to support Nigeria put this crisis behind it.”
Meanwhile, the G20 (Group of world’s 19 richest nations and European Union), yesterday suspended debt servicing by poor nations across the world.
The decision was announced yesterday, following a meeting of the group with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as part of the on-going Spring Meetings.
Commenting on the development in a joint statement, President of the World Bank, Mr. David Malpass and the Managing Director of the IMF, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva,
said, “We strongly welcome the decision of the G20 to respond to our call to allow the poorest countries of the world that request forbearance to suspend repayment of official bilateral credit on May 1st.
“This is a powerful, fast-acting initiative that will do much to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of millions of the most vulnerable people.
“The World Bank Group and IMF will move quickly to respond to the G20’s request for us to support this action by working closely with these countries in ways that make the best use of this vital lifeline. We championed this debt initiative, and we’re committed to taking all possible steps to support the poor. The suspension take effect from May 1, 2020.”
The post IMF advocates more fiscal support to fight COVID-19 in Nigeria appeared first on Vanguard News.
No comments