www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-is-not-broke-okonjo-iweala/


The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi
Okonjo–Iweala, has assured Nigerians
that the economy is growing positively
in spite of the reduction of oil price in
the international market.
Okonjo-Iweala, who stated this on
Tuesday at the 2014 Ministerial
Platform in Abuja, said the nation was
not broke as being speculated in the
media.

She said, “If you look back two years
ago, that title ‘is Nigeria broke’ was
written in a newspaper article, it is like
people are trying to force Nigeria into
brokerage.

“I think since two years, we have
managed to keep things going, let me
explain these; Nigeria is a country that
depends on a stream of income.
“That income is being able to collect
taxes from companies, individuals and
our income is also based on selling a
product and that product you take to
market and you take whatever price a
buyer is willing to pay.”

According to her, government is doing
everything within its power to ensure
economic stability in the country.
She said presently, government had
been budgeting below the existing oil
price to help build buffers in case of
uncertainty.

She said, “We are operating an economy
that depends on a product that
fluctuates with oil price and we don’t
have the right to control the price.
“Just like you have in your own
household, when the quantity diminishes
or the price drops, you remember in
2007 to 2008, the price of oil dropped
from $140 to $38.

“At that time, nobody asked if the
country was broke because we had
saved up $22bn in the Excess Crude
Account and we were able to continue
spending and to stablise the economy.”
The minister said that presently Nigeria
was faced with fluctuations in quantity
and price of oil, adding that it had
affected the amount paid into
government coffers.

She said, “Does that mean that the
country is broke? We still have
resources that we depend on; we still
have the ability to tax.

“Sometimes, things need to be a little
tighter, easier and we just have to
weather it and manage ourselves but
that does not amount to the country
being broke.”

The finance minister said if government
was not able to pay salaries to people
and continue to manage, “then we can
say that the country is broke but we
have not gotten there yet.”

She urged Nigerians to bear with the
nature of the economy, adding that it
was the reason every effort was
challenged to ensure the economy was
diversified.

Commenting on the management of the
fiscal deficit, she said that the Ministry
of Finance would continue to ensure
that it was kept as narrow as possible.
She said that in 2013, the debt to Gross
Domestic Product ration was 1.4 per
cent and 1.03 per cent in 2014 and
projected to be one per cent in 2015
budget. .

She added that borrowing had been on
the decline and external debt stood at
N1.46tr or 14 per cent of the total debt.
The ministry had adopted prudence to
debt management and Nigeria’s debt to
GDP remained one of the lowest in the
world.

But why do you and your otueke master always find excuses for borrowing if we are not broke. Or is it because of the oncoming elections you're feeding us these lies