Rising debt profile of Nigeria, a cause for concern – MAN.

On the $30bn loan request by President Mohammadu Buhari, the Director General of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Segun Kadiri, stated:

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“On the face of it and in my opinion, the 39 emergency projects in the Power, Agriculture, Transport & Mining sectors of the Nigerian economy alluded to by Mr. President should redress some of our infrastructure and sectoral performance/linkage deficits.

“To this extent, the projects are needful and their successful completion would boost the productive capacity of the Nigerian economy.”

Also : “The rising debt profile of Nigeria continues to be a cause for concern, especially the capacity of Government to effectively service it and at the same time, meet the bursting needs and aspiration of the citizenry going forward.

“Already, our budget projection for 2020 anticipates a debt service sum of N2.45trillion, an amount higher than the N2.14 trillion earmarked for capital expenditure.   

“Also, our total external debt stands at $27.16 billion, while Domestic debt has climbed to $56.72 billion.    Nigeria’s debt stock increased by 3.11 percent from $81.27 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2019 to $83.88 billion (N25.70 trillion) at the end of June 2019.

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“This is almost 13 percent increase year-on-year from the $73.21 billion at the end of June 2018. And even though our debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, which currently stands at 28 per cent, is still below the average in Africa, our revenue-to-GDP ratio remains low” he lamented.