Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Nigeria now stands at 21 percent.
Mrs Adeosun made this disclosure on Tuesday at the Ogun Investors Forum, which kicked off today in Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to the Minister, the debt to GDP ratio, which is at 21 percent, is “conservative, by global standards.”
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Adeosun said “it is important to highlight that our borrowing has been specifically to fund infrastructure; we’re not borrowing to pay salaries.”
She assured participants that “Nigeria’s level of borrowing will progressively go down in the years ahead; that’s the ERGP projection.”
She said government “will make up that difference with increased taxes.”
“Our tax-to-GDP is 6 percent, which is very low. If we get more people to pay taxes we will borrow less,” the Minister said.
Mrs Adeosun explained that it would be wrong for government to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, because it would have a negative effect on the economy generally.
“If we increase the price of petrol now, it will have an impact on consumer prices,” the Minister said at the event.
She emphasised that, “Every decision has to be well thought out and calibrated to ensure that we have the interests of the Nigerian people at heart.”
Mrs Adeosun assured that this administration’s “economic management team will continue to carefully evaluate these decisions.”
She said, “We firmly believe that revenue mobilisation is potentially the master key to unlocking Nigeria’s huge growth potentials and funding our infrastructure efforts. We will continue to place great focus on cost efficiency; blocking revenue leakages; and on continued support to the states.
“We have invested over N2.5 trillion in infrastructure between 2015 and 2017. If you move round the country, you will see ongoing works in roads, power, bridges, railway lines and so on. These are important building blocks for the Nigerian economy.
“When the Buhari government took office in 2015, the total amount invested in roads was N19 billion.
“In 2016 we raised that to N307.4 billion and N208 billion in 2017. Investment in the Transport Sector went from N6.49 billion in 2015, to N143.1 billion in 2016, & N133.9 billion in 2017.”
