Nigeria, June 15 -- The IMF's staff report on its 2026 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria is a very political document - mealy-mouthed, even if one of the persons I discussed the report with last week is to be taken seriously. What is a reader to make of the report's claim that the expansionary consolidated government fiscal stance last year was financed in part by "a CBN deposit drawdown of 1.1 per cent of GDP which has the same liquidity impact as previous 'ways and means' (overdraft) financing"? Or that as at the time of the report's presentation, "the estimated savings of the fuel subsidy removal completed in late 2024 (estimated at up to 2 per cent of GDP) do not appear to have accrued to the budget in 2025"?

Did we revert, last y...