The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it would meet on April 28 to consider Nigeria’s request for $3.4 billion in emergency financing to combat the impact of the coronavirus.
Sources told Reuters that setting a date to take the request before the board is a sign the proposal was slated for approval.
Nigeria, which is reeling from the twin hits of the oil price collapse and the new coronavirus pandemic, requested the emergency funding under the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument.
Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed is seeking a total of $6.9 billion from the IMF and other multilateral lenders.
The money would allow the government to address additional and urgent balance of payments needs, and to direct funds to priority health expenditures.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mopped up N1.4 trillion ($3.9 from banks with excess cash holdings as part of measures to support the naira.
The naira has been hitting new lows on the over-the-counter spot and black markets since last month, in thin trading volumes, after the central bank adjusted the naira’s official rate to imply a 15 per cent devaluation.
The naira this week touched 420 per dollar on the black market, for the first time since February 2017, 14 per cent weaker than the official market rate. The currency was quoted at 386.33 naira on the spot market on Friday.
In January, the central bank raised the cash reserve ratio (CRR) that banks must hold by 500 basis points to 27.5 per cent, its first rise in four years to curb excess liquidity on the banking system, which it said is contributing to inflation.
Bankers on Friday said the CRR debit was more than 27.5 per cent and that it was not related to a penalty set for lenders that failed to meet a regulatory loan-to-deposit target.

By Collins Nweze