With Nigeria’s total debt stock racing to over N80 trillion, there is heightened concern in the country.
Meanwhile, with the recent borrowing spree by the federal government and the National Assembly’s approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Ways and Means advance to the federal government, the Nation’s external and internal wealth could have surpassed N80 trillion. Accordingly, Nigeria’s budget deficit rose by 370.54 per cent from N2.41tn in 2016 to N11.34 trillion in 2023.Recall that the World Bank saidHowever, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed objected to the World Bank figure. She clarified that 80.6 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue was spent on debt servicing in 2022. Whichever figure one would want to run with, a significant chunk of the Nation’s revenue is being eaten up by debt.
“The outgoing government has been financing the budget from loans since 2015 which gave rise to the unbearable loan position the country is now shouldering. “Investments in aviation have not also yielded enough revenue to service the loans used for its execution. “The present indebtedness must be negotiated and repayment restructuring should be done to give breathing space for infrastructural development.