Contrary to reports making the rounds that Nigeria has been delisted from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) debtors list, a fresh fact emerged on Friday that the country is not completely off the hook.
Nigerians were thrown into a frenzy on Monday when an IMF report revealed that the Tinubu-led administration has completely repaid the $3.4 billion emergency loan it received to control the COVID-19 pandemic after the debt was paid in April, and Nigeria was subsequently removed from the IMF’s debtors list published in May.
According to the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Nigeria still owes millions of dollars in interest — categorized by the IMF as “charges” — which will continue to accrue through 2029, contrary to a post on X by Otega Ogra, a senior special adviser to the president.
In a report titled, “Total IMF Credit Outstanding – Movement from May 01, 2025 to May 06, 2025,” obtained on the multilateral institution’s website on Wednesday, Nigeria was not listed among the debtors, which had 91 developing and least developed countries owing the fund a total of $117,797,656,224 as at May 6, 2025. Total IMF credit outstanding refers to the total amount of unpaid and outstanding principal due to the fund from its member countries.
But just as it is applicable in any loan, principal repayment is only part of the cost, while interest or charge on such loans remains due.
“According to IMF projections, Nigeria still owes SDR 125.99 million in charges. This is the sum of total interest due from now through 2029.
“That figure includes SDR 22.35 million in 2025, followed by roughly SDR 25.9 million annually from 2026 to 2029. These payments are spread out quarterly and are part of the original loan agreement,” FIJ said on its website.
The IMF loan includes standard charges: a one-time service fee of 0.5% that must be paid upfront, along with ongoing interest based on the duration of the loan. This interest, referred to as the “basic charge,” is determined by the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) interest rate, which reflects short-term global rates, plus a fixed margin set by the IMF.
As of May 2025, the SDR rate was approximately 3.0%, with an additional margin of 0.6%, bringing Nigeria’s effective interest rate to 3.6% annually. This interest is calculated quarterly. Therefore, even though the principal was settled in April, Nigeria still owes the interest that accrued prior to that, particularly for the first quarter of 2025.
