The current debt profile of Nigeria has risen to N19trn as the Federal Government says there is no going back on plans to borrow additional N2trn.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said yesterday that the government is desperate to borrow the sum of N2 trillion to finance the 2017 Budget.
The minister, who spoke to newsmen after he presented his reports on the current Federal Government’s economic recovery plans to the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday night, argued that the government was not committing any economic blunder by borrowing to finance the budget.
Udoma noted that there was a great wisdom behind funding the budget with the proposed borrowing plan, adding that Nigeria does not have debt problem, but revenue problems.
He also said that efforts are in top gear to increase the country’s internally generated revenue through the recent moves to implement the laws of taxation, adding that the nation’s debt profile is not threatening, as it is less than 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Every country borrows and the level of borrowing in Nigeria is not excessive at all. The Federal Government is going to borrow about N2 trillion to finance the 2017 budget.
“Our debt currently is about N19 trillion which is less than 20 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is quite moderate. So, we don’t have a debt problem, what we have is a revenue problem and that is why we are taking steps to increase our revenue”, he said.
On how the government intends to increase its revenue earnings, Sen Udoma said: “One of the things we are doing, as you are aware, is to get people who have not been paying their taxes to pay their taxes. Right now, our tax collection from GDP is only about six per cent of GDP.
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