The strong possibility of Nigeria defaulting on her debt obligation is responsible for Chinese government withholding of a $20 billion concession loan earlier promised, a report has claimed.
The Guardian said it gathered from top presidency source that the money has been withheld.
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It says China’s action may have been informed by the loss of confidence in Nigeria’s credit worthiness by the global financial community following the current economic recession, adding that the situation has raised concern over Federal Government’s ability to borrow the $30billion for infrastructure development, which the National Assembly has refused to approve.
“We were very hopeful that we would secure that loan and other levels of assistance from the Chinese government. This is not to say we have given up though. We had set up an inter-ministerial committee working closely with the Chinese government officials as well as the China Exim Bank experts. They may have their reasons, but we are determined to fulfill our end of the bargain, and the Federal Government has already appropriated large sums for payment of counterpart funds on key projects to enable us to commence work proper,” the paper qouted a source in the presidency as saying.
