The Federal Government on Wednesday said
contrary to concerns being raised on the nation’s debt profile, Nigeria
is not borrowing enough and that it is in the best interest of the
country to borrow more.
The Minister of State for Finance, Dr.
Yerima Ngama, said this while briefing State House correspondents on the
outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over
by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Vice-President Namadi Sambo was absent
at the meeting because he is currently in Brussels, Belgium, attending
the International Donors Conference on the Development of Mali organised
by the European Union and the Mali’s transitional government.
Ngama addressed journalists alongside
the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku; and Minister of Water
Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe.
He said the council approved a medium-term debt management strategy, which will run till 2015.
Ngama added that the strategy would make
the federal and state governments to create opportunity for members of
the Organised Private Sector to access more credit.
He said, “This strategy is being put
together because of the current situation we find ourselves as far as
the structure and level of our debt is concerned. The structure of our
debt is not optimal. The bulk of the debt of our country, in fact 80 per
cent, is domestic and only 20 per cent is foreign.
“And, then, the level. We have a total
of over N6tn worth of debt; however, it is not just the level but the
cost of servicing that debt. Nigeria has one of the highest interest
rates in the developing world, and if there are high levels of debt,
then debt servicing will become very expensive.”
The minister said in presenting the
strategy to FEC, the Ministry of Finance suggested four options of
long-term borrowing that could be used to pay short-term debts;
long-term borrowing that could be used to pay long-term; accessing of
concessionary windows as well as borrowing outside to pay domestic
debts.
He said the problem with Nigeria’s debt was the high rate of servicing it.
Ngama said, “Nigeria’s debt is about 18
per cent of the nation’s GDP. The nation is under-borrowing. The
standard is 40 per cent of GDP; it is when it is over that that there is
a problem.
“We should borrow more, considering our
economic activities. There is no problem with the level of our debt. The
problem is the domestic debt.
Interest rates are too high. Yes, we must
continue to borrow. It is only poor people that do not borrow. Dangote
and others borrow; you can borrow once you are credit worthy. America is
the most indebted country in the world. Borrowing is good. The more
money you have, the more money you need. There is nothing like
satisfaction.
“If we are not oil rich, nobody will lend to us. We are borrowing because we have many projects.”
Ochekpe, who had earlier presented her
ministry’s 2012 report to FEC, said out of the N79.34bn appropriated for
the ministry in 2012, N43.68bn was cash-backed, while N43.66bn was
utilised.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
You people are fools, nothing but big fools. Infact if there is a word for fool in the superlative sense, that is what this present administration is. After borrowing you'll be looking for somebody to write off your debt. If we are too rich, why would we be borrowing unnecessary? The money we are borrowing, if I may ask, what are we doing with them? Government should cut down on it expenses and budget as a measure to curtail excess expenditure. USELESS GOVERNMENT!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anonymous.....HEAVY FOOLS...that is what they r.....its a pity educated illitrates r ruling us.."we need to borrow more"...can u imagine..BASTARDS..
ReplyDeleteMust Nigeria borrow money before surviving, where we have men in Billions of Naira. Pls what is the work of EFCC and CPC all the money collected from thieves are kept where? Always talking about expenditures/money spent but what about other income from other sources, not mentioned. If people knows what they are going to face on the day of judgement they would not vie for any position bcos they are going to account for everything on that day. So Jonathan wants to borrow money to be shared among the politicians where somebody is receiving/sharing millions of Naira every month, death will collect everything from your hand one day whether you like it or not. God is showing you examples around you but people dont care, fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom. May God lead us NOT Jonathan with is shallow thinking.
ReplyDelete