ActionAid criticizes IMF policies for exacerbating Nigeria's debt burden and undermining social spending

The report, titled “Still Cooking with a Failed Recipe: A Review of IMF Country Advice on Social Spending, Public Services, Debt, Tax and Gender Equality,” accuses the International Monetary Fund IMF of promoting policies that have hindered social spending and worsened economic hardship. It examined 29 IMF documents across 11 countries, including Nigeria, between February 2022 and February 2025. Nigeria spends 20.1 percent of its national revenue on external debt payments, compared to 4.06 percent on health and 4.40 percent on education.

The report highlights that for most lower-income countries, debt is now the primary obstacle to increasing social spending and public services, noting that the IMF failed to connect debt servicing with its implications for health and education funding. It also states that debt repayment is treated as an "unalterable reality." Regarding fuel subsidy removal, the report mentions that the IMF acknowledged the inadequacy of measures to cushion the impact on poor Nigerians, leading to the reintroduction of a subsidy.

ActionAid further alleges that IMF policy advice to Nigeria has remained largely unchanged despite public commitments to social spending and gender equality. The report found Nigeria's public sector wage bill has been frozen