Zainab Ahmed: Nigeria’s debt could jump 6 trillion won to 38 trillion won
Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, predicts that Nigeria’s debt will reach $ 38.68 trillion by December 2021.
Speaking on Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Local and External Debt, Ahmed calculated that by December 2020, both external and domestic debt will rise to $ 32.51 trillion.
According to the Debt Management Office, the total public debt, which includes the debt of the three levels of government, stood at $ 31.009 trillion at the end of June 2020.
“The total public debt, which includes the external and housing debt of the federal and state governments and the federal capital, was NO $ 31.01 trillion ($ 85.90 billion) as of June 30, 2020,” he said. …
“In accordance with the existing statement, it is expected to grow to 32.51 trillion by December 31, 2020. Argentine and 38.68 trillion. By December 31, 2021 “.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated Nigeria’s debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio at 29% in 2019; including financing of the debt and energy sectors of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
The federal government spent 97.5% of its revenue from January to May 2020 on debt service.
Over a five-month period, 1.58 trillion was spent on debt service. representing 97.5 percent of the $ 1.62 trillion revenue generated.
The minister attributed various abandoned road projects in the country to poor allocation of funds due to declining revenues.
“I am a person who believes that you just need to take the main road in the geopolitical zone and finish it.
“We were unable to do this because of the appropriation processes at both the executive and legislative levels of government.
“Truth be told, if we can only take one or two projects at a time and complete them before moving on to the next, it’s better.
“You will see a road that may cost N5 billion, and you will see a reserve of N100 million, N200 million, or 300 million.
“Obviously, the project will never end. Two years later, the entrepreneur returns and asks for change, and the amount continues to grow.
“I would like us to come to a point where we sit down as government and agree to select several projects, complete them in 2020, and then select the next one in 2021.
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“So from a geopolitical point of view, this selection will take place as a collective process.”
Ahmed assured that legacy projects such as Lagos-Ibadan Highway, Niger 2nd Bridge, East-West Road and Abuja-Kaduna Kano Road are being implemented due to the availability of funds.
Source: – Cable
