At the backdrop of the sustained revenue pressure and scarcity of foreign exchange the Federal Government, has opened talks with the World Bank to secure a $1.5 billion loan for budgetary support.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, who disclosed this yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg, linked the borrowing to the need to improve the supply of foreign exchange and soften the pressure on the exchange rate.

He said, however, that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has reduced the forex exchange backlog to $5 billion.