Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) has
revealed today that the total debts of the country
has reached $63.5 billion as at the end of
March this year, a little over 11.2 trillion naira
which was the total of the debt profile as at
December 2014.
Nigeria has been affected by the 50 percent fall in global oil prices
as government relies majorly on crude sales account for more than
70 percent of its revenue.
All This Is DISGRACE For Nigeria – Buhari
Government at all levels also adjusted their revenues which forced
this year’s budget to be revised and some projects scrapped while
some government employees have been owed for months.
The naira, has also come under intense pressure, losing ground to
the dollar on both the official and black market. The figure
announced by the DMO correlates with earlier claims by vice
president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo that Nigeria’s debt stood at $60
billion at the end of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration.
Osibanjo’s claims were rebuffed by the former finance minister
under Jonathan, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who revealed that
the debt was much lower, and mostly incurred by states and not the
federal government.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had also criticised
Osibanjo, over what they termed “misinterpretation of facts
regarding the nation’s economy.”
Nigeria’s debts have been rising over the years despite the $18
billion relief from the Paris Club of creditors in 2005, when the
country’s debt stood at $30 billion.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
Godwin Emefiele, has advised President Buhari to consider
selling off nearly half of Nigeria’s Joint Venture equity with
multinational oil companies, to enable his government to raise a
huge balance for immediate developmental projects.