The Ministers of Finance, Zainab Ahmed says the President
Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government can not stop borrowing to finance
projects.
Ahmed explained that there was an urgent need to fund the
2020 budget to improve infrastructural development and create jobs, hence the
need to borrow.
She stated this on Tuesday while appearing before the House
of Representatives Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management to defend the
loan request of $22.718 billion presented to the Senate by Buhari.
Ahmed said: “We need to invest in roads, rails, and to be
able to grow at a growth rate better than how we are growing now. The loans are
strictly for infrastructure development. So that we can address the deficit
that we have. We know we must comply with some criteria.”
She also dismissed fears over the loan, saying that “Nigeria
does not have a debt sustainability problem but revenue challenge.
Also speaking, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde
Fashola, assured that every money borrowed would be judiciously used for the
purpose they were gotten.
Fashola stated that the government could not ignore the
infrastructural development needed in Nigeria.
He said: “It is right to have this hearing because we cannot
ignore the concerns of the members of the public over the debt profile of the
country.
“As we cannot ignore the concerns about debts, so we cannot
ignore the concerns and demands for the provision of life sustaining
infrastructure.
“So, everybody wants a road, everybody wants a rail project,
everybody wants a port and efficient airports.
“They want to ensure that our ports are efficient so that
business can function more effectively, so that clearing of goods can happen
more quickly and cheaply.”
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