FG to secure $550m loan from World Bank

THE Federal Government in its bid to meet its transformation agenda and fix the polluted land in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country is negotiating a $550million financing, Coordinating Minister of the Nigerian Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said.
The minster, who dropped this hint in an interactive session with newsmen in Washington DC at the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the response of the multi-lateral institution to Nigeria request has been quite encouraging and the deal will be finalised when the new World Bank country director arrives in Nigeria.
Okonjo-Iweala said: “We have an ambitious programme to create jobs. One of the several priorities is agriculture. We have very detailed plan for investment in agricultural sector. One of the things we did here in Washington was to start negotiating for extra financing from the World Bank. We are in discussion with them to see if they can advance about $500 million to support the sector, also environment because we see agriculture and environmental issues desirous of having support.
“We have also entered into discussion of $50million to support the environment and $500 million for agriculture. It is not concluded yet but it is looking positive and we are very happy with what is happening. We will conclude it when we get to Nigeria and the new country director arrives”.

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