Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion loan it secured from the International Monetary Fund in 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument initiated to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final principal repayment was made on April 30, 2025.
According to The PUNCH, the loan, which was disbursed in a single tranche five years ago, helped Nigeria manage the shocks of falling oil prices, rising fiscal pressures, and a pandemic-induced recession.
However, while the principal has been cleared, the country is still obligated to make annual payments on interest and other charges until 2029.
According to IMF data, Nigeria is scheduled to pay Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 6.5 million—approximately $8.84 million—in charges this May. Additional payments are due in August and November, with the total charges for 2025 estimated at SDR 22.3 million or $30.24 million. The annual payments are projected to remain consistent in subsequent years, reaching up to SDR 25.9 million (around $35 million) by 2029.
An economic analyst, Tolu Adebayo, said the repayment of the principal is commendable but warns that “the recurring interest payments are a reminder that international loans come with long-term commitments that could strain future budgets if not well managed.”
More Read
The charges include Net SDR Charges, General Resources Account (GRA) Basic Charges, and SDR Assessments, all of which are standard components of IMF lending. These represent the cost of accessing IMF resources and maintaining membership in the SDR Department.
Data from the Debt Management Office shows that Nigeria’s debt servicing to the IMF reached $1.63 billion in 2024, entirely for principal payments. That year, Nigeria spent $4.66 billion servicing its external debts, with multilateral creditors accounting for $2.62 billion—56 percent of the total. The IMF alone accounted for 35 percent of all debt servicing and 62 percent of payments made to multilateral lenders.
Economic policy expert, Dr. Grace Okon, explained, “While the country has made remarkable progress in reducing its IMF debt from $2.47 billion in 2023 to just over $800 million in 2024, the continuing payments will still impact Nigeria’s fiscal space.”
