An economic and investment consultant, Dr. Vincent Nwani, on Thursday warned the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari against taking further loans to the present external debt, which stood at N24.3 trillion.
DAILY POST gathered that the Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, had in April while addressing a press conference in Abuja, declared that Nigeria’s total debt profile as of December 31, 2018, stands at N24.387tn. The figure rose by 12.25 per cent from N21.725tn in 2017 to N24.39tn in 2018.
But, Nwani, who gave analysis of the nation’s debt burden and the lackluster economy status of the country, said that the national GDP which is at 2.5 at the moment is too weak for development of the country.
Nwani, who is the immediate past Director of Advocacy at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), however, warned the present administration under Buhari against further debt.
Nwani while speaking in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital at the South West Region’s edition of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Media Knowledge Development Event (MKDE) themed, “Nigeria in 2019: low growth Vs rising risks”, argued that borrowing for developmental projects was never a crime, he nonetheless added that the effect of the borrowing on the masses is the concern of the economic experts in the country.
