By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has played down on claims that the government of Mr Muhammadu Buhari has been borrowing recklessly from various quarters, including local and international.
Speaking on Monday on the 5.01 per cent growth in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2021, Mrs Ahmed stressed that at 23 per cent of the GDP, the government was borrowing sensibly and responsibly.
She said even the funds obtained by the central government were used for critical infrastructure like power, water, roads and rails required to enhance business productivity in the country.
“We are borrowing with very close consideration to the sustainability of the borrowing. The borrowing level for Nigeria today is still 23 per cent of the GDP.
“I have said it several times that the problem we have in Nigeria is that of revenue and when you look at the countries that are within the peer group with Nigeria, there are some that had 50 per cent growth and now at about 70 per cent growth.
“We are at 53 despite the escalated borrowing we had to deal with in 2020 also in 2021 to get a good grip on the economic situation that was occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic and in our case due to the crash in crude oil price.
“We are borrowing sensibly, we are also borrowing to invest in critical infrastructure like power, water, roads and rails which are investments that are required to enhance business productivity in the country today.
“These businesses will grow, they will not only pay taxes, they will also employ people. If we don’t do this, we will regress even from where we are today. It is a necessary investment so we are borrowing responsibly.
“We are making sure what we are borrowing is applying to major infrastructure that will return revenue in the near future,” she noted.
