Recently, Nigeria and Egypt has had a lot in common on the economic front. Both countries are hit with major dollar shortages, dwindling exchange reserves and falling government revenue.
It doesn’t stop there. We also share the same strategy when it comes to possible solutions. Only difference however is that Egypt appears to be doing a better job at turning things around while Nigeria…well… continues to dither.
Bloomberg is reporting that Egypt has reached a $2.7 billion currency swap agreement with China. The deal is expected to pave the way for a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan.
Even the IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, who has visited Nigeria is bullish on consumating the deal.
According to Bloomberg, she said Egypt was very close to “marshaling a $6 billion in outside financing the fund required as a condition for approving the $12 billion loan.”
Nigeria by the way is still planning to plan to issue a mere $1billion in Eurobonds.