- As Finance Minister explains How FG will fix ailing economy
The Federal Government is set to borrow N1.84 trillion from external and domestic markets to finance the 2016 budget, the Director-General, Debt Management Office, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo has said.
According to him, the government will borrow N900billion and N984 billion from the external and domestic markets to fund the budget.
Speaking during a workshop on Debt sustainability and the challenge of financing economic recovery by the DMO for the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abuja, at the weekend, Nwankwo said the challenge of infrastructural development and economic recovery are enormous; therefore, the imperative of the government to seek for alternative funding of which debt sourcing was an integral part.
He urged the media to key into the government’s debt management policy.
The DMO chief observed that the media has a critical role in informing Nigerians of the importance of debt financing in economic development especially with declining oil and gas revenue being faced by the country and around the globe.
He said Nigeria’s debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio as at December last year was at 13.02 per cent, which he said was far below the peer group ratio of 56 per cent.
Explaining further, Nwankwo said the logic of the mix— external and domestic borrowings, is “to rebalance total public stock in favour of less costly external funds,” while stressing that “the utilisation of the borrowing proceeds are entirely on capital projects to support the growth of productive capacity.”
He said to address the huge infrastructural deficit in the country effectively, the funding implications for Nigeria is about $25 billion per annum over the next five to seven years.
The worry in the funding of such huge infrastructural challenge, the DMO said, lies in private sector equity and debt, which he explained is uncertain as well as public sector revenue and debt which has been adversely affected by declining oil revenue.
To address the imbalance, he said: “The imperative is to depend on well structured, substantial, affordable, long-term external debt financing to fund the desired long-term economic change.”
Nwankwo urged the leadership of the NUJ to engage its members to explain the desirability of public debt financing to Nigerians.
NUJ President, Mr. Waheed Odusile, commended the DMO for the workshop, which he described as timely and educating, urging the office to expand its enlightenment to other critical stakeholders.
Odusile promised that the union would continue to engage with the DMO in order to help pass on the appropriate information on the activities of the office and the importance of debt financing for the country’s development needs.
In the meantime, the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has set out government’s plan to reset Nigeria’s economy with structured borrowing, targeted investment and diversified growth. Speaking at a special event hosted by the Lagos Business School, she said: “We have inherited a set of conditions that requires us to refine how we collectively work towards ushering in a new era in Nigeria.”
Pointing to the impact of falling global oil prices on the economy, Adeosun said: “In the past, we had the means but not the will. Now we have the will but we no longer have the money to invest. The safety blanket of oil has been ripped away, laying the poverty of Nigeria’s institutions bare.” According to her, government has spent too many years tinkering at the edges of her institutions, infrastructure and our economy and that the mistakes and misjudgments of the last 40 years have set the clocks back by decades.
Setting out the government’s blueprint for growth, Adeosun said: “We must collectively adopt a blueprint that equips the future generations to be creative and dynamic, that allows us to articulate a vision of a Nigeria, with a strong educational foundation; rich in depth of knowledge with a breadth of skills, an expansive infrastructure capable of servicing the needs of Nigerians”. She described it as an “expansionary budget for investment and growth. We must find the money, and create a system that enables targeted expenditure, based on the nation’s priorities.
This expenditure will be efficient and impactful, focused on creating wealth for the majority.” Outlining N1.8trillion in borrowing to invest in the priorities of Transport, Roads, Housing, Power and Health, the Minister said: “We are committed to a countercyclical budget expenditure model. This has been a success in other nations, offsetting the risk of recession and creating an economy which is not based on either fragile consumer spending or over-reliance on oil.”
The Minister used her presentation to set out the four pillars of the economic plan which include to stimulate economic growth to achieve a real Gross Domestic Product growth of 4.2 per cent in 2017; reduce the cost of governance and strengthen institutions to combat corruption extract efficiencies in public service; increase government expenditure on infrastructure and fund the budget deficit and negative trade balance cost effectively. She said the targeted outcomes included substantial increase in gross capital formation; acceleration of GDP growth and infrastructure development to unlock economic growth.
However, the Minister warned those thinking the borrowing would open the door to renewed fiscal indiscipline that she planned to continue her “aggressive programme of fiscal housekeeping”. She said: “We must safeguard this borrowing, ensuring that the wastage within the existing systems are firmly addressed. We cannot mortgage our future based on a system that has failed us for generations. We must be careful in our borrowing and prudent in utilisation.”
She added that the Minister spoke to the hard working men and women who run Nigeria’s vital small and medium sized companies. She said: “We are a nation of entrepreneurs, and our entrepreneurs need reliable infrastructure, skilled employees and transparent systems and regulation that support them as they grow. We are introducing sound policies and robust systems that will benefit the micro, small and medium enterprises.”
She said: “With courage, discipline and open minds we begin our journey to build an economy whose resilience is not controlled by oil prices, but by our determination to reset the economy and finally give our people the chance they deserve.”
The Nation