The Caretaker Committee Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Akpanudoedehe has said that the loans obtained by the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari are borne out of the desire to uplift the living standard of Nigerians.
Akpanudoedehe, said the loans are meant to develop critical sectors of the economy in a bid to reduce poverty.
He said the loans are intended to finance the deficit in the 2021 budget, which, he says will enable the realisation of the country’s economic sustainability plan.
He further said “Unlike in the brazen looting days of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the borrowings are designed to finance the deficit in the 2021 budget to enable the realisation of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan, that touches key sectors such as infrastructure development, boosting healthcare services, strengthening agriculture to deepen food security, more energy generation and continued tackling of the ravaging COVID-19 global pandemic.”
“From the foregoing, it is abundantly clear that the borrowing is hinged on genuine needs and based on the necessity to strengthen the foundation of the national economy and achieve the desired primary purpose of the government of uplifting the living standard of the citizens.”
In a related development, the PDP has lashed out at the Government saying, that with the N33.107 trillion debt already accumulated by the APC led President Buhari, an addition of N5.62 trillion borrowing proposed by Buhari for the 2022 budget and now a fresh N2.66 trillion external loan, the APC will be hanging N40 trillion debt on the nation, with no clear-cut repayment plan.
You would recall that statistics from DMO indicate that, public debt stock stood at N12,603 trillion in 2015, N17.360 trillion in 2016, and N21.725 trillion in 2017.
In 2018, 2019 and 2020, public debt stood at N24.387 trillion, N27.401 trillion, and N32.915 trillion, respectively
A financial expert and economist, David Adonri, has said that the government, by its tendency towards fresh debts, “is mortgaging the future of the country”.
He said the unbridled debt appetite of the current administration, is anchored on the poor investment in human and physical infrastructure.
Nigeria’s present debt burden stands at about N33trillion.
