Why Buhari’s borrowing is good for Nigeria – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture,Lai Mohammed, told Nigerians on Monday there was no cause for alarm over the country’s debt profile.

Mohammed stated this in Lagos while briefing journalists on the major achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the outgoing year.

He said there were misrepresentations in the figures being pushed out in certain quarters about the debt profile, adding that the country had not reached its debt ceiling of 25 percent in total public debt stock to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said: “Recently, there have been concerns in certain circles about the country’s growing debt, both domestic and external.

“In the process, there have been some misrepresentations and scaremongering.

“We therefore, believe it is important to put things in perspective, so our citizens will be well informed.”

The minister said it was not correct to say that Nigeria’s external debt alone was $81.274 billion.

He added: “The public debt stock is actually a cumulative figure of borrowings by successive governments over many years.

“It is therefore, not appropriate to attribute the public debt stock to one administration.

“Nigeria’s total public debt stock in 2015 was $63.80 billion comprising $10.31 billion of external debt and $53.49 billion domestic debt.

“By June 2019, the total debt stock was $83.883 billion made up of $27.163 billion of external debt and $56.720 billion domestic debt.”