The House of Representatives has mandated its Committees on Aids, Loans, Debt Management, Capital Market and Institutions to investigate Nigeria’s mounting debt profile.
The House gave the directive on Thursday following the lawmakers’ concern over the “alarming rise of Nigeria’s debt profile, which has led to economic instability, and stunted growth in various sectors of the economy.”
In a motion on notice on the “need to investigate Nigeria’s alarming debt profile,” Yusuf Tajudeen (PDP, Kogi), had expressed concern over controversies surrounding Nigeria’s debt figure.
According to him, the controversy stemmed from noticeable disparity in debt figures given by the Federal Government and Fiscal Policy Monitoring Organizations.
“The Vice President and Chairman, Nigerian Economic Council, Yemi Osinbajo, stated that Nigeria’s debt profile stood at US$10 billion in the last three years.
“But figures from Economists and budget experts range between US$13 billion and US$47 billion, from May 2015 and June 2018.
“Further analysis reveals that while external debt grew from US$10.49 billion in 2015 to US$17.83 billion in June 2018, domestic debt had risen from N8.39 trillion in 2015 to N12.15 trillion in June 2018,” Yusuf said.
The lawmaker further expressed concern over the sharp increase in sub-national borrowings by state governments, which have risen from N1.69 trillion in 2015 to N3.4 trillion in 2018.
He decried that even as national debts could be deployed as veritable economic strategies to reflate the economy and stimulate growth, Nigeria’s case has been an exception.
This, he contended, was because government’s borrowings have not been transparent, and thus prone to manipulations, misconception and doubt.
In their separate contributions, the lawmakers noted the sharp decline of Nigeria’s revenues, which has made the debts increasingly unsustainable, with attendant consequences.
When put to vote, the motion was unanimously adopted and the House directed the relevant committees to report back to it within four weeks for further legislative action.
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