N31trn Debt: FG Shuns IMF’s Relief Package

The Federal Government has said that it would not apply for relief to get out of its crippling N31trillion debt burden.
It would be recalled that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pushing debt relief for low income countries.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, made this disclosure, yesterday in Abuja during the public presentation of the 2021 budget.
Responding to a question whether Nigeria would take the option of the debt relief, Ahmed said the government was not considering such at this time.
She said several loan agreements have been entered with various lenders; adding asking for debt relief would portend Nigeria as a country that cannot repay its indebtedness in the eyes of creditors.
The minister also defended the 2021 budget deficit which has exceeded the Fiscal Responsibility Act threshold of three percent.
President Muhammadu Buhari had presented a budget proposal of ¦ 13.08trillion up by 22.9 per cent from the ¦ 10.8trillion 2020 budget, with revenue projected at ¦ 7.5trillion.
The budget deficit is projected to grow by ¦ 5.21trillion made up of Government Owned Enterprises and project-tied loans thus representing 3.64 percent of the budget size.
The ¦ 5.21trillion budget deficit exceeds the three per cent threshold prescribed by the FRA 2007 for the annual budget.
Ahmed said that although the 2021 budget deficit exceeded the three per cent threshold, the government has not breached the law.
She said that there is a provision in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that allows the government to surpass the threshold during “unusual times.”