Nigeria not in debt crisis in spite N24.9tn debt stock – Zainab

*Lawan tasks MDAs to provide measurable target

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has declared that the nation is not in a debt crisis, in spite Nigeria’s debt profile of $81.27 billion (about N24.947 trillion).

The minister made this disclosure on Wednesday at the opening of a two-day public hearing on the 2020 Appropriation Bill convened by the joint Senate and House committees on Appropriation.

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She said that despite the debt profile, the country’s total borrowing was 20 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), revealing that the budget deficit of N2.7 trillion in 2020 is to be financed mainly by borrowing.

Declaring the event open, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan tasked the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to provide achievable targets that are measurable with timelines for the implementation of the 2020 budget.

Lawan, said the ninth National Assembly is not only concerned about the timely passage of the budget, but also deeply concerned about its implementation.

The Senate President said: “We have mandated our committees to engage with the MDAs. We want the MDAs to give us roadmaps on how they intend to achieve their targets.

“If you are taken 10 million Nigerians out of poverty in 2020 in 10 years, it will be 100 million. We want to see the plans by the relevant or responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government on how the 2020 budget will be able to take 10 million Nigerians out of poverty.

“We want these to see measurable targets. We are not going to be asking for stories. We are going to be asking for facts.

“So, we are going to task the MDAs that in this year budget we will not wait until 2021, give us targets that are measurable which we can evaluate after every quarter.”

The Senate President also cautioned on the continued reliance on borrowing to fund the infrastructure needs of the country, but instead suggested a Public Private Partnership (PPP) option.

“If we have to borrow, we should borrow. Where we can avoid borrowing because there is another opportunity, we should take that opportunity that has a lesser burden,” Lawan said.

He was also in agreement with the suggestion for the resuscitation of the long term national planning programme.

“I agree that the long term national economic programme is useful. We had it before, it worked for us better. We stopped it and we have seen the consequences.

“So, now that we have a minister that thinks that we should go back to that process and we have a National Assembly that is prepared to ensure that this country does better. We should hit the ground running.

“I am not aware of any request for legislation, but if it is the desire or necessity that we legislate, this National Assembly will work with the government to ensure that we legislate on the national economic development plans,” Lawan added.