The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has secured a three billion dollar Emergency Crude Repayment Loan from African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) Bank.

In a short statement confirming the deal, the NNPC said the commitment letter was signed at AFREXIM Bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. 

It explained that the deal will enable it to support the Federal Government in its ongoing fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate market.

The NNPCL loan deal is coming after the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Folashodun Shonubi, on Monday promised that the apex bank will, in the next few days, be taking steps to improve the liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

Shonubi revealed that he had met with President Bola Tinubu, whom he said voiced his concern regarding developments in the market and its impact on Nigerians.

The acting CBN governor shared his belief that the changes in the market are driven mostly by speculative demand and was confident that the steps that will be implemented soon will significantly impact the market.

The naira has hit a significant decline since the Tinubu administration ended petrol subsidy and unified all segments of foreign exchange market. The exchange of a dollar to naira has since risen from around 451 naira to a dollar to 785 naira.