Business
Greece Debt Crisis Tops Finance Meeting Agenda
The deepening Greek debt crisis remains uppermost in the minds of financial leaders as they wrap up a weekend conference pledging to address the risks facing the global economic recovery.
One danger arises from governments with budgets deeply in the red, such as Greece. Another, perhaps more worrisome, is still-rising unemployment in many advanced countries.
Finance ministers and central bankers agreed that recovery from the deepest recession since the end of World War II will take more effort.
“The worst is definitely behind us, but we are not out of the woods yet,” Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, the chairman of the International Monetary Fund steering committee, told reporters.
Greece’s finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, continued intense talks with top officials of the IMF and the European Union on a multibillion dollar rescue package to meet his country’s massive debt obligations. Parallel negotiations were under way in Athens. Papaconstantinou planned a Sunday session with Dominique Strauss-Khan, the head of the IMF.
The weekend talks end Sunday with discussions of a steering committee for the World Bank, the IMF’s sister lending organization, the biggest provider of development loans.
Security remained tight around the adjacent IMF-World Bank headquarters buildings three blocks from the White House. But protests were low-key, unlike past years when demonstrators clashed with police.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged the Greek government, European officials and the IMF to “move quickly to put in place a package of strong reforms and substantial concrete financial support.”
Geithner took part in a meeting at IMF headquarters which included Papaconstantinou, Strauss-Kahn and Olli Rehn, the European Commission’s top economic official.
Greece is hoping to obtain loans of about $40 billion from the group of 16 European countries which, like Greece, use the euro as a common currency, and an additional $13.4 billion from the IMF. Crippled by soaring borrowing costs, Greece on Friday made a formal request for the aid. Prime Minister George Papandreou declared in a televised address that his country’s economy was a “sinking ship.”
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Saturday that while he didn’t have a view on the proper size of a rescue program for Greece, finance officials from some other nations, including some in Europe, have expressed concerns that the current level may not be sufficient.
European and IMF officials, however, have made clear that their support will carry a high price: putting Greece’s fiscal house in order. Greece has already agreed to begin an austerity program that cuts civil servants’ pay, freezes pensions and raises taxes. But the country faces years of painful cutbacks and doubts about its long-term finances.
The austerity program has already generated massive street protests in Greece and labor strikes.
Edun made the call while speaking at the 2025 Fellowship Investiture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, where he reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to sustaining ongoing reforms and expanding access to finance as key drivers of economic growth beyond four per cent.
“We all know that monetary policy under Cardoso has stabilised the financial system in a most commendable way. Of course, it is a team effort, and those eye-watering interest rates have to be paid by the fiscal side. But the fight against inflation is one we all have to participate in,” he said.
The minister stressed the need for banks to broaden credit access and finance innovation-driven enterprises that can create jobs for young Nigerians.
“The finance and banking industry has more work to do because we must finance their ideas, deepen the capital and credit markets down to SMEs. They should not have to go to Silicon Valley,” he said.
The minister who described the private sector as the engine of growth, said the government’s reform agenda aims to create an enabling environment where businesses can thrive, access funding, and contribute meaningfully to job creation.
The facility, known as the Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration (P512892), is a Development Policy Financing (DPF) operation scheduled for World Bank Board consideration on December 16, 2025.
According to the Bank’s concept note , the financing would comprise $500m in International Development Association (IDA) credit and $500m in International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan.
If approved, it would be the second-largest single loan Nigeria has received from the World Bank under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, following the $1.5 billion facility granted in June 2024 under the Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation (RESET) initiative.
The World Bank said the new programme aims to support Nigeria’s shift from short-term macroeconomic stabilisation to sustainable, private sector–led growth.
“The proposed Development Policy Financing (DPF) supports Nigeria’s pivot from stabilization to inclusive growth and job creation. Structured as a two-tranche standalone operation of US$1.0 billion (US$500 million IDA credit and US$500 million IBRD loan), it seeks to catalyse private sector–led investment by expanding access to credit, deepening capital markets and digital services, easing inflationary pressures, and promoting export diversification,” the document read.
The document further stated that Nigeria’s private sector credit-to-GDP ratio stood at only 21.3 per cent in 2024, significantly below that of emerging-market peers, while capital markets remain shallow, with sovereign securities dominating the bond market.
To address these weaknesses, the DPF will support the implementation of the Investment and Securities Act 2025, operationalisation of credit-enhancement facilities, and introduction of a comprehensive Central Bank of Nigeria rulebook to strengthen risk-based regulation and consumer protection.
The operation also includes measures to deepen digital inclusion through the passage of the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill 2025, which will establish a legal framework for electronic transactions, authentication services, and digital records.
Beyond the financial and digital sectors, the programme targets reforms to lower production and living costs by tackling Nigeria’s restrictive trade regime. High tariffs and import bans have long driven up consumer prices and constrained competitiveness, particularly for manufacturers and farmers.
Under the proposed reforms, Nigeria would adopt AfCFTA tariff concessions, rationalise import restrictions, and simplify agricultural seed certification to increase the supply of high-quality varieties for maize, rice, and soybeans. The World Bank projects that these measures will help reduce food inflation, attract private investment, and enhance export potential.
The operation is part of a broader World Bank FY26 package that includes three complementary projects—Fostering Inclusive Finance for MSMEs (FINCLUDE), Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth (BRIDGE), and Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth (AGROW)—all focused on expanding access to finance, strengthening institutions, and mobilising private capital.