Some financial experts in Lagos have advised the Federal Government to take aggressive steps to curb persistent increase in the domestic debt profile.

They gave the advise in an interview with our correspondent last Friday in Lagos.

Our correspondent recalls that the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Monday in Abuja that the nation’s domestic debt profile had increased to N5.9 trillion.

Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister of the nation’s economy spoke at a consultative meeting with the organised private sector and civil society organisations.

She said that with the debt profile, it had become expedient for Nigeria to slow down its domestic borrowing and diversify its earning as the current interest rate continued to widen the debt net.

Dr Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, said that the rising internal debt profile was due to misplacement of priorities.

Nwaogwugwu said that most funds borrowed were diverted to other unproductive areas of the nation’s economy.

He said that persistent increase of the debt profile would put pressure on the economy and retard its growth.

“The ability of government to effectively use funds borrowed on specific projects would forestall further increase in domestic debt profile.

Nwaogwugwu, however, advised the government to diversify into other areas of untapped resources which would add value to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP).

He said that this would make government to have more revenues to spend on capital projects and reduce the debt profile.

Mr Eddie Osarenkhoe, the immediate past President, Finance Houses Association of Nigeria (FHAN), said that the expansionary increase in the government spending had contributed to rise in the internal debt level.

Osarenkhoe said that there were no effective monetary measures that could absorb the effect of the increasing government spending.

“If government can apply some discipline in its spending by placing its priorities right and tighten up its monetary policy, this will reduce the internal debt,’’ he said.

Osarenkhoe, however, urged both the State and Federal Governments to encourage indirect labour in projects execution to discourage over invoicing of contract sum.

Dr Kazeem Bello, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan told NAN in a telephone interview that inability of government to implement efficient fiscal policy had affected the debt profile.

Bello said that the fiscal policy could either be used to tighten losses in the economy, depending on what government intended to achieve.

He said that strict fiscal policy was needed to control the continuous rising of debt by reducing its expenditures.

Bello also advised government to prevent diversion of public funds meant to be pay for domestic debt and ensure proper supervision of contracts to avoid over estimation of project sum.

“The ability of government to tackle diversion of funds and over estimation of project sum would reduce the nation’s debt profile,’’ he said.

Mr Olumide Adegoke, the General Manager, Standard Alliance Insurance Ltd., urged government to block all the leakages to check the internal debt.

Adegoke said that high level of corruption in various system of the economy was the major leakage that had adversely affected the debt profile.

He said that corruption was an impediment to the national development and urged government to reduce it to the barest minimum.