5th January, 2016
International Monetary Fund, IMF, chief Christine Lagarde has reacted to her meeting Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the country’s capital.
Using Twitter to express her confidence in the Nigerian government, she wrote, “Just met President Buhari of Nigeria. Impressed with government’s response to challenge of sustained, low oil prices.
Just met President Buhari of Nigeria. Impressed with government’s response to challenge of sustained, low oil prices pic.twitter.com/vJf1eD6xRq
— Christine Lagarde (@Lagarde) January 5, 2016
Nigeria is facing an $11bn (£7.4bn) budget deficit and is trying to cope with the loss of revenue following the big drop in oil prices.
Speaking after talks with Buhari, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde also said she was not in Nigeria to negotiate a loan.
She backed what she called Buhari’s “very important” fight against corruption and said the president’s reform push could have a positive impact across West Africa.
“His determination to bring about transparency and accountability at all levels of the economy were very important agenda items and very ambitious goals that need to be delivered upon,” Lagarde told reporters at the presidential villa in the capital Abuja.