The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has acquired a $3 billion crude repayment loan to boost the naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market. This was according to a brief statement published on the company’s official account on X (previously known as Twitter) on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the oil company obtained the cash through the African Export-Import Bank’s Cairo headquarters.
“The NNPC Ltd. and AFREXIM bank have jointly signed a commitment letter and Termsheet for an emergency $3 billion crude oil repayment loan,” NNPCL said in a terse statement on Wednesday.
“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 stabilising the exchange rate market,” it added.
The PUNCH reports that the move followed the announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria that it had secured the President’s directive to stabilise the Naira.
The Acting Governor of the apex bank, Folashodun Shonubi in an interview with State House reporters had said the volatility of the naira in the parallel market was not solely driven by economic factors, but also speculative demand.
