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| Photographer: Olympia De Maismont/AFP/Getty Images |
Nigeria has paid off $3.4 billion borrowed from the International Monetary Fund during the Covid-19 pandemic, exiting the list of countries that are in debt to the Washington-based lender.
Finance Minister Wale Edun confirmed via text message on Thursday that the loan had been repaid on the agreed terms.
The IMF granted Nigeria emergency assistance in April 2020 as the pandemic shuttered businesses around the world and countries closed their borders.
The West African nation now has no outstanding IMF debt, though the Fund expects it to honor some additional payments of roughly $30 million a year in Special Drawing Rights charges, IMF resident representative for Nigeria Christian Ebeke said in a separate statement.
Still, the repayment is a mark of the country’s improved financial position, with the central bank’s net foreign exchange reserves reaching a three-year high last month. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette |
The University of Pittsburgh agreed to an almost $8 million settlement stemming from a 2020 lawsuit in which some students sought a refund of tuition after claiming the school’s online instruction forced by the pandemic was “sub-par.”
In all, Pitt agreed to a settlement fund of $7.85 million, court documents show.
"Throughout the spring of 2020 and beyond, the University of Pittsburgh worked to prioritize public health interests and the safety of our students, faculty and staff,” Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer said in a statement. “Now that a settlement has been reached, the University looks forward to moving on from this matter and continuing to provide exceptional education to all of our students."
The lawsuit — one of several filed in 2020 by students at Pittsburgh-area universities against the schools’ pandemic responses — was first filed in May 2020. Lawyers in the suit said Pitt was not providing the education students paid for, nor the use of campus facilities, housing or meal plans for which they also paid.
The students wanted their money back.
The suit was initially dismissed in 2021 after U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV ruled the plaintiffs did not plead “plausible claims" for breach of contract and related claims.
But the students appealed and in 2023 a judge partially reversed the 2021 ruling.
Now, Pitt has agreed to pay the money into a settlement fund, which will benefit all students who were enrolled in at least one in-person class during the spring 2020 semester and had their classes moved to remote learning because of the pandemic. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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