Nigeria is accumulating fresh debts as its foreign debts stand even at $3.7 billion.
According to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reports, Nigeria has since 2006 be accumulating other debts.
In a paper titled: “The Global Financial Crisis and the Nigerian Financial System: The Way Forward” CBN said that the country’s debts has increased in the last two years.
According to the paper delivered by the Director, Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Charles Mordi, the total debts recorded in 2006 was $3.5 million.
He said that the debts increased to $3.6 billion in 2007 and $3.7 billion in 2008.
Mordi, while giving an overview of the economy vis-à-vis giving the macro-economic indicators over a period of three years, argued that Nigeria’s debts has shot up relative to the economic growth.
His assertion was underscored by economic observers who claimed that Nigeria is yet to learn its lesson in spite of the economic crisis facing it.
They said that Nigeria stands the risk of increasing its debts to several billions of dollars if it failed to exercise caution.
They based their assertions on the fact that the global financial crisis and the attendant reduction in the government’s expenditure would make the federal government to continue to look for external lenders.
The CBN further noted that the exchange rate has remained unstable during this period.
He pointed out that the naira was N128.2 per dollar in 2006 before it experienced an increase in value in 2007 when it exchanged for N117.9 per dollar.
However, the stability enjoyed by the naira was short-lived as it was exchanged for N132.5 per dollar in 2008. Over the period, the naira has continued to fall against the dollar.
Former CBN boss, Chukwuma Soludo, explained that the naira depreciation was as a result of the global economic crisis.
Other economic indices that have experienced instability in the past three years , according to the report, are external reserves, foreign direct investments and gross domestic product (GDP).
The report noted that the external reserves was 42.3 billion dollars in 2006, 51.3 billion dollars in 2007 and 53.0 billion dollars in 2008.
However, the current global financial crisis and the sharp fall in the international prices of crude oil resulted in the reduction of external reserves.
On the foreign direct investment, the country recorded 13.9 billion dollars in 2006, 5.6 billion in 2007 and 5.8 billion last year.
Similarly, the gross domestic product recorded a growth rate of 6.0 per cent three years ago, 6.6 per cent in 2007 and 6.4 percent last year.
The inflation rate has also recorded sharp increase during the period.
The development made federal government to put in place measures to achieve a single digit inflationary rate.