The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion it received under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) during the COVID-19 crisis. The repayment was completed on April 30, 2025, according to a statement issued on behalf of Christian Ebeke, IMF’s Resident Representative for Nigeria.
The loan, which was disbursed in April 2020, was intended to help Nigeria manage the economic downturn caused by the pandemic and a sharp decline in oil prices. It was one of the largest RFI disbursements globally at the time and was approved with more lenient conditions than typical IMF loan programs.
Although the principal has been fully repaid, Nigeria is still obligated to make additional annual payments related to its Special Drawing Rights (SDR). The IMF explained that these charges are expected to be about $30 million per year for the next few years.
The SDR-related charges result from the gap between Nigeria’s SDR holdings and its cumulative SDR allocation. According to the IMF, the payments will continue until Nigeria’s SDR holdings are equal to its full allocation under the Fund’s guidelines.
Data from the IMF’s website, as reported by Nairametrics, shows that the total SDR charge for 2025 is projected at SDR 22.35 million, or roughly $30.24 million. The payments will be spread across May, August, and November of the year.
In 2024, Nigeria’s debt servicing to the IMF reached $1.63 billion, all of which were principal repayments, with no interest or other charges reported. That figure represented a major share, about 35%, of Nigeria’s total external debt servicing of $4.66 billion for the year.
Multilateral institutions, including the IMF, made up 56% of Nigeria’s external debt servicing in 2024, underlining the significant role of such bodies in the country’s financing structure.
The IMF’s confirmation of the loan repayment is widely seen as a boost to Nigeria’s international creditworthiness and an important milestone in its debt management efforts amid ongoing economic reforms.
Analysts suggest that while the repayment marks fiscal discipline, the continuing SDR obligations highlight the need for stronger reserve management to reduce future liabilities.
