The Minister of Finance, Mrs
Zainab Ahmed says while government borrows to deliver on its promises, it was
also mindful of rising debt burden, which eats up about 25 per cent of the
country’s annual earnings.
Ahmed said this in an interview
with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the side-line of the just concluded
IMF/World Bank meetings, which took place in Washington DC from April 9 to 14.
Nigeria currently has an external
debt stock of about 24.27 billion dollars as at December 31, 2018.
Euro bonds, loans from World Bank
Group, China and Africa Development Bank Group make up over 80 per cent of the
country’s debt stock.
“The World Bank and IMF are
cautioning us on the rate at which we are borrowing.
“They are also cautioning us on
the need to build fiscal buffers because the global economy is going to be
facing some risks and we agree with that.
“We are very mindful of the level
of our borrowings. Our borrowing is very much within fiscal limits right now.
“What we are doing is to increase
our revenue generating capacity to make it easier for us to meet our debt
obligations and our routine as well as capital expenditure,’’ she said.
NAN Correspondent raised concerns
about whether the Chinese loans to finance the Idu-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and
Abuja light rail projects, the expansion of four airport terminals and some
hydroelectric projects across the country were healthy for the nation’s
economy.
The Correspondent also raised
concerns about whether the conditions for the loans were favourable to the
overall interest of Nigeria.
Ahmed responded saying: “To
borrow, we go through several processes of assessments as well as negotiations.
“We make sure we get the best
possible terms and whether we are borrowing from financial institutions or in
Europe or China or anywhere else, we try to get the best rates of borrowing.
“So far, the conditions we’ve got
are very good ones,’’ she said.
Ahmed restated the commitment of
the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to ensure that the country
grows in a manner that would bring many people out of poverty.
According to her, it is for this
reason that the government takes its social investment programmes like the
school feeding, Conditional Cash Transfers to the poor and vulnerable and
trader moni programme, very seriously. (NAN)
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