International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday urged Nigeria to step up its economic reforms ef-forts before the opportunity for reforms becomes more limited.

“Urgency is needed in implementing a coherent and credible package of monetary, fiscal and structural policies as the window for bold reforms is closing as the 2019 elections are approaching fast", IMF spokesman, Gerry Rice said at a regular news briefing with reporters. Rice also confirmed that Nigerian authorities have not approached the global lender about a programme, but said the IMF “stands ready to help should the country make a request for financial assistance.”

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said this week the country would not apply for an IMF loan as it was pursuing its own economic reform plan. 

"For us, the IMF is really a lender of last resort when you have balance of payments problem.

Nigeria doesn’t have balance of payments problems per se, it has a fiscal problem. We are already doing as much reform as any IMF programme would impose on Nigeria", Adeosun said in an interview with CNBC.

Besides, she said: “Nigerians want to take responsibility for their future. We must have our homegrown, home-designed programme of reform.”

The Finance Minister said non-oil revenues were improving while the government was fine-tuning an economic reform plan needed to support an application for a loan of at least $1 billion from the World Bank, adding that the government was also seeking further funds from the African Development Bank (AfDB). 

The government has laid out plans to spend a record N6.86 trillion to boost the economy in a draft 2017 budget sent to the National Assembly for approval.

It planned to spend N6.06 trillion last year, but struggled to fund it. In order to secure World Bank funding, the country had initially promised to submit an economic plan to the World Bank by the end of December 2016, but did not meet the deadline.

Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, wrote to the National Assembly on Wednesday to seek approval for a new $500 million Eurobond sale to help make up for a shortfall in the government’s budget.

The request comes on the heels of the government’s sale of $1 billion worth of 15-year bonds earlier this month. However, there is speculation in some quarters that the government would eventually turn to the IMF for help when it becomes obvious that the Eurobonds would be grossly inadequate for funding critical infrastructure needed to stimulate the economy.

New Telegraph