Nigeria bets on a new $2.25B World Bank loan to support reforms that have resulted in hardship

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The World Bank has approved a $2.25 billion loan for Nigeria to shore up revenue and back economic reforms that have contributed to the worst cost-of-living crisis in many years for Africa’s most populous country. The bank said late Thursday that the loan will help bolster measures to protect the poor as well as strengthen tax reforms and revenues. President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms — including ending decadeslong but costly fuel subsidies and unifying the multiple exchange rates — have resulted in surging inflation that is at a 28-year high. Nigeria already has a high debt burden after its public debt surged by nearly 1,000% in the past decade.