[size=13pt]Nigeria’s Debt May Hit N16.08tr By 2020 [/size]
By Kingsley Ighomwenghian, FINANCE EDITOR
http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=15952


Economists, bankers and budget experts, on Thursday met in Lagos to review the performance of the 2009 budget, taking a look at the 2010 Act so far, raising concerns over the continued budget expansion at a time when other nations are shrinking theirs.

Speaking at a one-day “policy seminar on the 2010 Federal Government budget,” jointly organised by the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), most of the facilitators lamented that the 2009 budget largely performed below expectation. They added that going by the budget’s expansionary nature, Nigerians are inflation this year.

According to Prof. A. G. Garba, of the Department of Economics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, government continues to finance the deficit through the capital market, thereby raising the nation’s sovereign debt. He estimated that at current growth rate, and relying on the trend between 1996 and 2009, Nigeria’s cumulative debt may hit N16.08 trillion by 2020. The debt level, he noted, is currently being serviced with about N2.3 trillion.

Garba, who spoke on “Management of domestic and external debt and early warning signals,” regretted that “Nigeria is on the march again to the debt trap that it got into until the Paris Club debt agreement in 2006. We should ask (ourselves) whether the debt is sustainable.”

In his intervention, however, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, DG of the Debt Management Office (DMO) explained that the nation stopped financing its budget deficit through “ways and means” in 2003 when the agency started borrowing from the capital market thereby subjecting itself to the discipline of the market.

“Borrowing is a normal feature of all economies. Nigeria is currently one of the lowest in terms of ratio of debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Products). This does not mean Nigeria is doing well, as what is more important is whether the proceeds is being used judiciously,” he added.

Nigeria plans to sell N867.5 billion of bonds this year to fund a budget deficit due to a drop in oil revenue, Nwankwo said, adding that government, deliberately shifted away from foreign to domestic debt to avoid exchange rate volatility, noting that at a debt to GDP of 13.88 per cent, Nigeria’s debt remain sustainable given the present conditions in the economy.

Bright Okogu, DG of the nation’s Budget Office, in his presentation provided other comparative figures showing that troubled Greece has a debt to GDP ratio of 14 per cent; the UK has 12 per cent, US, 11 per cent and Germany (Europe’s largest economy) has over 4.0 per cent ratio.

The expansionary budget, the speakers agree, is not entirely evil for an economy like Nigeria’s that is growing. Curtailing inflation resulting from the increased budget spending, Okogu lamented has been restricted, because the Fiscal Responsibility Act is applicable only to the Federal Government and its agencies. The State Governments, he noted would always quote provisions of Section 162 of the constitution relating to the sharing of revenue accruable to the nation, which can then be spent independently.

The DG explained that government is working to rejig the 2010 budget to make it more realistic, adding that it has a deficit of 4.75 per cent, “which for now is not bad (even as it depends) on what the funds appropriate is spent for.”

In a goodwill message, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) explained that following the 2008 financial and economic crises that led to recession across the globe, nation’s have had to deliberately expand expenditure to mitigate effects of the global liquidity crunch, while addressing infrastructure gap.

Represented by C.N. Anyanwu, the CBN Governor said while government intends to reduce cost of doing business through intervention in critical infrastructure, the CBN hopes to strengthen the financial system to ensure sound and viable banking and payment system. The Asset Management Corporation, he assured, will be established soon to enhance the flow of credits to the real sector, in addition to the N500 billion already provided by the CBN, “of which N200 billion is earmarked for the refinancing/restructuring of loans granted to the small medium enterprises and manufacturing companies by banks. The remain N300 billion has been set aside to address some identified problems in the energy and aviation sectors.”

Prof. Akpan Ekpo, Director-General of the West African Institute Financial & Economic Management (WAIFEM) stressed that the 2009 budget performed below target, owing to challenges such as the weak budgetary framework, lack of proper accounting, ineffective monitoring and control, as well as delayed approval, leading to a plethora of uncompleted projects across the country.

Phillip Asiodu, chairman of the workshop stressed that “the most important critical necessary factor (to enhance Nigeria’s international competitiveness to attract necessary investment inflows) is good governance in all its implications.”

What is that $106.24 billion dollars? Nigeria's GDP in 2020 (if growth reaches into double digits sometime this decade) will, or should I say may, be above $900 billion, so debt-to-gdp ratio will still be low. Though the last thing Nigeria needs is to be ladened with more debt, even if it's just a small % of GDP.

A time it was that our debt was revolving around thirty-something billion USD and our governments failed to pay the debts then, even servicing it was a major problem until OBJ and Okonjo Iweala found a way round it and the Country was returned to zero debt level.

If our debt is now allowed to grow uncontrollaly then we can as well sell the Country to pay up.

Even without electricity, water, good schools, bad roads, only GOD can save this country.

So are the nairaland experts saying no cause for alarm?

whatever, what can we do. the lawmakers and senators are busy looting money. They do not care. Those who care can do nothing about it so lets all go and sleep.

The disciples of the new world order are fighting to bring all nations into captivity, by using money (bankers) to control them. I cry for my country, You guys thought they helped Nigeria through Obasanjo to write off the debt abi?, I dont think so, that action was a trick to sway the public's attention, only to come back for their dough!

 if you don't think so, Then what is the representative of Goldman Sachs doing at our ministry of finance as the Head,

*Please read about the credibility of Goldman Sachs, Aganga was a director,

Few months after his installation as a Minister of finance, he is called up to chair at world bank & IMF - reason to fix the country's power sector, but before hand Mr. President had kept the portfolio to himself, can't you see the connection, subsequently federal govt agrees to increase Nepa tariffs, and then he pushes federal govt to get another loan, after Yar'adua did, now the idiots are using loans to fund the countries budgets,

 Little did I know Gaddaffi is a true African Leader, when he told AU participants that the day they stop acquiring loans is the day their emancipation has begun I thought he was just insane,

But its clearer now,

Take a look at what is happening at Congo, that country worths over $2 Trillion dollars of God-given-natural resources, but they use conflicts just like Iraq and Afghanistan to rip the country of its pride,

May God help Us.

paddy_lo:

@Ranks007

u are not making much sense. . . I dont even know where to start
and by the way Gaddaffi is a clown,and no African leader. . if u like him so-much why not move to tripoli,see how he will treat your black a.s.s

Isn't it obvious that you have no idea of what I am talking about? Look when someone has suddenly become fact less in any conversation he resorts to name calling especially when either party can see each other , guy u no fit do am if you see me face to face (I'm not God, i'm not Goliath either), I don't do bashing on NL and if you do, try keep the respect anonymous, biko 
Needless to continue with a fellow like you who thinks the world's problems are solved easily like mathematics , remain blind to the world that is spiritually operated, I will appreciate it if you don't piss me off again

The disciples of the new world order are fighting to bring all nations into captivity, by using money (bankers) to control them. I cry for my country, You guys thought they helped Nigeria through Obasanjo to write off the debt abi?, I dont think so, that action was a trick to sway the public's attention, only to come back for their dough!

if you don't think so, Then what is the representative of Goldman Sachs doing at our ministry of finance as the Head,

*Please read about the credibility of Goldman Sachs, Aganga was a director,

Few months after his installation as a Minister of finance, he is called up to chair at world bank & IMF - reason to fix the country's power sector, but before hand Mr. President had kept the portfolio to himself, can't you see the connection, subsequently federal govt agrees to increase Nepa tariffs, and then he pushes federal govt to get another loan, after Yar'adua did, now the idiots are using loans to fund the countries budgets,

Little did I know Gaddaffi is a true African Leader, when he told AU participants that the day they stop acquiring loans is the day their emancipation has begun I thought he was just insane,

But its clearer now,

Take a look at what is happening at Congo, that country worths over $2 Trillion dollars of God-given-natural resources, but they use conflicts just like Iraq and Afghanistan to rip the country of its pride,

May God help Us.

doomsday prophet!!

stop being paranoid
and stop blaming people that are trying to fix the mess our clowns in government has put us in,


is it not the national assembly that are fighting for increase in their pay

where are these monies coming from

is it not your presido that has budgeted billions to celebrate a farce called 50 yrs celebration


my man go and put your hause in order

I wonder why Nigeria even owes money.
its not like they build anything beyond their means.

Anyway owing or not, it does not concern most nigerians because most nigerians are
either self-employed or at least not in standard employment.
If the debt causes tax rises and it affects the cost of groundnuts, the groundnut seller will kukuma raise his price.
chikena.
And whoever is affected will just raise their prices till the civil servants\employees who cant do the same
are priced into oblivion.

kobikwelu:


doomsday prophet!!

stop being paranoid
and stop blaming people that are trying to fix the mess our clowns in government has put us in,


is it not the national assembly that are fighting for increase in their pay

where are these monies coming from

is it not your presido that has budgeted billions to celebrate a farce called 50 yrs celebration


my man go and put your hause in order

Hey Bro,  I can say you are right calling me a doomsday prophet(I am to you, just like many that won't believe me too) because your ignorance calls for it and once your eyes are open I will be the all wise one, smiles, just a joke! I like arguing with facts and as much as can borrow from history, I will relay to you. Notwithstanding my house is in order, and I hope and really wish my country will one day be,

You see the world is not the way we see it there are things intertwined in it, first of all, I want you to check the credibility of the assertions below and tell me what you understand by these statements

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money,
first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

--- Thomas Jefferson

I hope you know who Thomas Jefferson was, let me remind you in case you have forgotten so soon, He was the third American President, so that statement should give you an insight of the conspiracy: It did not start today,


Another American President Andrew Jackson the 7th one was once asked what was his greatest achievement as the 7th president of the US, He said by the hand of God Almighty, I killed the bank!

- He succeeded in driving them out of America then

Please read the Abraham Lincoln's War with the Banks ---- Some will easily say he was assassinated as a result of his lack of cooperation with the bankers.

-  http://american_almanac.tripod.com/lincoln3.htm



"People who will not turn a shovel full of dirt on the project (Muscle Shoals Dam) nor contribute a pound of material, will collect more money from the United States than will the People who supply all the material and do all the work. This is the terrible thing about interest , But here is the point: If the Nation can issue a dollar bond it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good also. The difference between the bond and the bill is that the bond lets the money broker collect twice the amount of the bond and an addi- tional 20%. Whereas the currency, the honest sort provided by the Constitution pays nobody but those who contribute in some useful way. It is absurd to say our Country can issue bonds and cannot issue currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the usurer and the other helps the People. If the currency issued by the People were no good, then the bonds would be no good, either. It is a terrible situation when the Government, to insure the National Wealth, must go in debt and submit to ruinous interest charges at the hands of men who control the fictitious value of gold. Interest is the invention of Satan".

- THOMAS A. EDISON


"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce."

-- James A. Garfield, President of the United States



A great industrial nation is controlled by it's system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely
controlled and dominated governments in the world--no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a overnment by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.

--   President Woodrow Wilson


"If Congress has the right [it doesn't] to issue paper money [currency], it was given to them to be used by, [the government] and not to be delegated to individuals or corporations"

-- President Andrew Jackson


"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."

--Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President.


[size=15pt]"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

-- Henry Ford - he is the founder of Ford motors.
[/size]

Lets divert to britain;

James Madison: "History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it's issuance". -- James Madison Misc. Sources "Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing"

-- Ralph M. Hawtrey, Secretary of the British Treasury


Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from  them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will
 disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits"

- SIR JOSIAH STAMP,(President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain



Do you know that all the banks in quote are the Federal Reserve Banks at US, Goldman sachs, U&B, Citigroup etc

"The regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies. , but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations."  Examples are the Federal Reserve banks of Texas, New York and the rest.

What is happening to Greece today?


All of this are few tales from my stable, brothers open your eyes and try to see the world. All of these are highly classified fraud that has never been tried for once in a court of law. It's all over the world, forget about the economic recession, all fake stories to bring luring every nation into captivity, ok ask your self where are all the monies they claim to be lost, whose pocket was it going into or did it develop wings and fly,

If you are wise enough, ask yourself who is really behind this, after thorough research you will realize it's a long laid down conspiracy of the New world order. The Illuminati, the all seeing eye on the U.S dollar; remember the man who ordered for sign to be printed on the U.S dollar -  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And that is why many in America can't succeed free without identifying with this god, they are suppress not to have their will and God given destinies, examples are the youths who want be superstars by all means,  you don't belong because you want to, but you belong because you have to,

If Presidents and the renowned men we sometimes wish to be like have something to say about the banking system and can't take the law against those satanist bandits, who is more powerful, the bankers or the Presidents, that's why the true last American President was JFK- and he died for the same course. And tell me why your present hero is any different from the rest. After the wars Bush was pushed into, they have to bring in a cooler to win the lost hearts of the citizens in America in order cement their plans and continue their work.

Someone said before country must grow it needs loans - No that's a big lie, if every country are so doing its not because its right but for the fact that the bankers are doing their evil marketing to tap from the nations wealth. please read more below

hackney:

I wonder why Nigeria even owes money.
its not like they build anything beyond their means.

Anyway owing or not, it does not concern most nigerians because most nigerians are
either self-employed or at least not in standard employment.
If the debt causes tax rises and it affects the cost of groundnuts, the groundnut seller will kukuma raise his price.
chikena.
And whoever is affected will just raise their prices till the civil servants\employees who cant do the same
are priced into oblivion.

That is a typical example of how a wealthy and healthy system crashes,

Please read more of what Victor Oguejiofor Okafor, Ph.D., Professor of African American Studies, Eastern Michigan University has to say---- he called the debt write off a dubious one, Nigeria turns out to be loosing, I thought I was wrong,

http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/1284.html

At first I guess I were were naive to talk to, I never knew one senseless being could force out a page of assertions from you. You see for one man to call another stupid, when basically he was wrong using that phrase 'stupid' on the other; what do you think of such a fellow? He's eventually the ONE, I barely see foreigners bashing each other in their respective forums, unless the conflict is of interest, but here in NL we have mean persons all over, ok>>>to the issue,

Peradventure one day when you'll happen to be a public officer holder and you welcome corporate bankers with heavy duty briefcases for thanksgiving, lol, & persuading you to get a loan and leaving it to swell in the name of the state or face the wrath of the all seeing eye, may be you will remember Victor,

Earnestly I mean no contempt, peace!

.

Thanks for the information! =))

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drax:

little wonda our presido was askin G8 members 2 pardon africa`s debt.

Those guys are devilish, if they will, they will only agree on a condition that will later benefit them, I knew Jonathan has seen the rot and his tender heart is bleeding for Africa, This serves as warning to those who have a dream to be a public office holder, no matter the situation, shine your eye, don't sell the land to your great Grand fathers and mothers fought for.

and no country on earth develops without taking loans to build infrastructure

umm, are you sure?

where is Libya taking their loan from?

otawa:

umm, are you sure?

where is Libya taking their loan from?

foreignors or maybe from IMF or World Bank. I seriously doubt Libya can finance all of its infrastructural projects.