The Debt Management Office (DMO) has clarified that Nigeria is not restructuring its debt but exploring “debt liability management options”.
The federal government had, on Wednesday, said the it was exploring debt restructuring and extending the repayment period of its credit obligations.
Minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, stated this on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Washington.
However, the DMO in a statement said the minister’s comments were taken out of context.
According to the DMO, over the years, Nigeria’s debt management strategy had always highlighted the need to utilise appropriate debt management tools to streamline the cost and risk profile in the debt portfolio.
It pointed out that towards the implementation of these strategies, Nigeria has typically availed itself of concessional loans; the spreading out of debt maturities to avoid bunching; and, re-profiling of the debt maturities by refinancing short-term debt using long-term debt instruments.
“All of these, none of which constitute debt restructuring, are already being implemented. The Nigerian government is also looking forward to exploring other appropriate debt liability management options, such as bond-buy back and bond exchanges,” the statement added.
DMO further assured local and international investors and creditors that Nigeria remained committed and will meet all its debt obligations.
Meanwhile, The World Bank says it will assess Nigeria’s debt sustainability plan before granting relief.
It, however, said the country is yet to request debt restructuring under the G20 common framework.
David Malpass, World Bank president, said this on Thursday at a press conference.
According to World Bank, the common framework requires private creditors to participate on comparable terms to overcome collective action challenges and ensure fair burden sharing. But so far, only a few countries in Africa — Chad, Ethiopia, and Zambia — have made debt relief requests under the policy.
