Mr. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
Nigeria has qualified for a World Bank loan of $2.25 billion, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has Said.
Edun made this disclosure during a press conference held at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group on April 20.
The package, he said, was approved by the board of directors of the World Bank, and offers a 40-year term, a 10-year moratorium, and a one percent interest rate.
Said Edun: “If you look at the fact that we have qualified for the processing, just this week to the board of directors of the World Bank of a total package of $2.25 billion.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch but it is the closest you can get to free money.
“It is virtually a grant. It is about 40 years, 10 years moratorium and about one percent interest. That also is part of the flow that you can count”.
Edun further added that the country had also secured similar budgetary support and low-interest funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Edun said there was a relatively expensive set of incentives, duty waivers and exemptions on tax which costs about one percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The minister said the country was looking to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 percent from about 10 percent in a few years.
He said the government was also looking to ramp up overall government revenue from about 12 percent to “about 22 percent, to virtually double it”.
Said he: “So, you might say how would this be done”.
The minister said the country had a tax reform and fiscal reform committee that would roll out a list of measures to improve efficiency in the tax sector and increase revenue.
