FG plans fresh N4.28trn loan as Nigeria’s debt is set to hit N33trn
📸 Minister Of Finance, Budget And National Planning: Mrs Zainab Ahmed
The government plans to fund the 2021 budget with the fresh loan.
A report by Daily Trust indicates that the federal government has notified the National Assembly of its plans to borrow N4.28 trillion to fund Nigeria’s 2021 budget as the country’s debt burden will hit N32.91 trillion.
As of the first quarter of 2020, the country’s debt stocks currently stood at N28.63 trillion.
Though 30% of the 2020 budget has so far been implemented, the government’s plan to borrow N4.28trn was contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) forwarded to the Nigerian Senate for approval.
The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed. From the document submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari, the sum of N12.65 trillion was projected for the 2021 budget and N5.16 trillion as a budget deficit for 2021. According to the document, the N5.16 trillion deficit represents 3.62% of estimated GDP and will be financed by new foreign and domestic borrowing of N4.28trn.
It was reported that Nigeria is faced with a serious revenue problem rather than a debt problem.
A report by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed Nigeria’s total debt portfolio now stands at N28.63trillion as of Tuesday, March, 31, 2020.
The report titled Nigeria Domestic and Foreign Debt First Quarter 2020 indicates that the country’ domestic debt hits N18.64 trillion in the period under review, representing 65.11% of the entire debt profile.
A breakdown of the debt portfolio shows that the N9.99trn or 34.89% of the debt is external while N18.64trn or 65.11% of the debt is domestic.
The domestic debt of the states and the FCT stands at N4.11trillion with Lagos state accounting for 10.8% of the total domestic debt stock while Yobe state has the least debt stock in this category with a contribution of 0.7%.
In a related development, President Muhammadu Buhari was on Wednesday, July 22, given the deadline of September 2020 for his submission of the 2021 national budget. The deadline was agreed upon by senators and approved by the Senate president, Ahmed Lawan, during plenary.
According to Sen. Lawan, the submission of the 2021 budget by President Buhari before or by September ending will afford the red chamber sufficient time go through the document and approve it before 2020 runs out.
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