$3.4Billion Loan: Nigeria Made Commitment To Publish Independent Audit Report on Spending, Says IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that before it gave Nigeria a $3.4 billion emergency response loan, the country’s authorities made a commitment to publish an independent audit report of expenditures.
The Nigerian government had received a loan of $3.4 billion from the Washington based lender to cover the decrease in revenue arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Advertisement
The country is expected to repay the loan in a 5- year period at 1% interest rate, but the bank said the country had a 3- year grace period.
The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, had in an interview with NCBC Africa news said that the loan was an emergency response to curb the impact of the virus and “there were no strings attached.”
However the IMF as part of measures to promote transparent and accountable use of COVID-19 loan, said ” These measures are generally encouraged as good practices to enhance transparency and accountability.”
The IMF said, “In Nigeria, the authorities have committed to: (i) strengthening the role of the Federal Audit Board in combating corruption and the asset-declaration framework; (ii) fully implementing the risk-based approach to AML/CFT supervision while ensuring the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal persons.
Advertisement
” (iii) creating specific budget lines to facilitate the tracking and reporting of emergency response expenditures and report funds released and expenditures incurred monthly on the transparency portal (http://opentreasury.gov.ng/).
” (iv) publishing procurement plans, procurement notices for all emergency response activities—including the name of awarded companies and of beneficial owners—on the Bureau of Public procurement website; and (v) publishing no later than three to six months after the end of the fiscal year the report of an independent audit into the emergency response expenditures and related procurement process, which will be conducted by the Auditor General of the Federation,” the IMF said in a statement.
