The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) has secured a $3 billion crude oil repayment loan to support the naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market.

The NNPCL secured the loan following a commitment letter signed with the AFRIEXIM Bank headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.

It made this known via a statement issued on Wednesday.

The statement read: “The NNPC Limited and AFREXIM Bank have jointly signed a commitment letter and Termsheet for an emergency $3 billion crude oil repayment loan.

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“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 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, on Monday, August 14, said it would soon come up with stringent measures to stabilise multiple exchange rate in the country.

The CBN Acting Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, who made this known after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, said this followed the negative effect on the economy by the noncompliance of operators of the forex market to the harmonisation of rates since its introduction.

Shonubi stated that President Tinubu was concerned about the negative impact of the current exchange rate by the operators, adding that the apex bank will in a few days take measures to make the operators in the exchange market comply with directives on forex trading.

The Star