The Federal Government of Nigeria has successfully cleared the $3.4 billion loan it received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

This was confirmed by the IMF, which removed Nigeria from its list of countries with outstanding credit between May 1 and May 6, 2025. The list currently shows over 90 countries with a combined debt of $117.79 billion—but Nigeria is no longer among them.

 

The loan, disbursed in 2020 under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), amounted to 2.45 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR)—a type of international reserve asset used by the IMF.

 

Repayment was made in three installments: SDR613.62 million in 2023, SDR1.22 billion in 2024, and another SDR613.62 million in 2025, according to IMF data.

 

Confirming the repayment on Thursday via Twitter, Tolu Ogunlesi, former Special Assistant on Digital and New Media to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that Nigeria had now completed the full repayment within the agreed five-year period.

 

“This US$3.4 billion (equivalent to 2.45 billion SDR) COVID-19 assistance from the IMF to the Nigerian government under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) has now been fully repaid in accordance with the agreement,” Ogunlesi said.

 

He noted that the loan included a moratorium of 3.25 years, which meant Nigeria began repayments in the third quarter of 2023 and concluded them in 2025, as scheduled.