Former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has denounced Nigeria’s habit of obtaining frequent loans to supplement for its economic deficiencies, noting that ‘we cannot borrow our way out of our situation’.
Mr. Obi, who appeared on Arise Television to discuss the state of Nigeria’s economy amongst other issues on Monday, 30th November 2020, took to his verified Twitter handle where he excoriated Nigeria’s habit to seeking financial aid from her Western counterparts to service our highly unfeasible budgetary plans.
The former Vice Presidential candidate said it is not sustainable to borrow for the purpose of consumption and recurrent expenditure as against borrowing for productive means which would ultimately regenerate the borrowed funds.
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“We cannot borrow our way out of our situation. Our biggest challenge is that we’ve been borrowing for consumption and not for productivity” Obi wrote on Twitter.
We cannot borrow our way out of our situation. Our biggest challenge is that we’ve been borrowing for consumption and not for productivity. -PO #AriseTV
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) November 30, 2020
Obi’s comment comes as a reaction to recent publication by the National Bureau of Statistics that Nigeria has entered its second recession in five years, a situation which is further exacerbated by Nigeria’s debt profile.
Eko Hot Blog had earlier reported that Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed had confirmed that Nigeria is already hashing out the details of obtaining another loan of $1.5b from the world bank, a debt which would further exacerbate Nigeria’s debt profile.
Incessant borrowing to supplement Nigeria’s budget has been one of the biggest criticisms faced by the Muhammadu Buhari led government. Few months ago, a civic group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), had lodged a petition with the Federal High Court, Abuja, asking President Muhammadu Buhari to publish details of government loans obtained since 2015, the interest rate as well as the interest accrued on these loans.
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