FEC Approves New Debt Management Strategy

By Ahmed Rahma

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a new Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) for the period of 2020-2023.

This was disclosed on Debt Management Office (DMO) official site on Wednesday.

In a statement, the debt office explained that the MTDS is a policy document that provides a guide to the borrowing activities of a government in the medium-term, which is usually four years.

It added that it is recognised as one of the best practices in public debt management and is recommended by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This is to ensure that public debt management is driven by a well-articulated strategy that is structured to meet a country’s broader macroeconomic and public debt management objectives.

Explaining further, it was revealed that the MTDS 2020-2023 has been prepared by the DMO in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Other collaborating stakeholders were the Budget Office of the Federation, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The DMO also disclosed that Nigeria has had two previous MTDS (2012-2015 and 2016-2019), prior to the current strategy, which was designed with a consideration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new policy had to be re-worked to reflect the global and local economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and it incorporates data from the revised 2020 Appropriation Act and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework 2021-2023.

The DMO is an agency established by the federal government to manage the debt stock of the country. It is currently manned by Ms Patience Oniha.