By Emmanuel Nduka
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has secured a $3 billion Emergency Crude Repayment Loan from African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) Bank.
The deal was disclosed in a short statement by the NNPCL.
The commitment letter, which was signed at AFREXIM Bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday, will enable it to support the Federal Government in its ongoing fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate market.
“The NNPC Ltd. and @afreximbank have jointly signed a commitment letter and Termsheet for an emergency $3billion crude oil repayment loan.
“The signing, which took place today at the bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, will provide some immediate disbursement that will enable the NNPC Ltd. to support the Federal Government in its ongoing fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate market,” the short statement read.
The NNPCL loan deal is coming after the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Folashodun Shonubi, on Monday promised that the apex bank will, in the next few days, be taking steps to improve the liquidity in the foreign exchange market.
The CBN Chief had earlier met with President Bola Tinubu, whom he said voiced his concern regarding developments in the market and its impact on Nigerians.
The naira has hit a significant decline since the Tinubu administration ended petrol subsidy and unified all segments of foreign exchange market. The exchange of a dollar to naira has since risen from around 451 naira to a dollar to over 900 naira.
