peteonline:
Only if this would create more jobs. I support her if this will boost the economy more to the first 20 in the world. She is an expatriate in this field.

expatriate my as..s . she served in Obasanjo Government for up to five years and now GEJ. how has she better d economy as a finance minister.

Editor1:
GEJ, go ahead and borrow any amount u want...

The S-south has given u the go-ahead. Afterall, wen its comes to repay the loans, its still the oil money from south dat is used....not the rotten onions from North!
Its our money...we spend it as we wish.

Meanwhile its GEJ till we find a better replacement!

teach ur children such lifestyle ok. my advice

Pavarottii:
This are good loans because they surely be paid back from investments the government will use to money for, knowing that interest rate is 3 - 4%... And due to low oil price that lead to the devaluation of our naira that has eaten into our external foreign reserves. This loan will be needed to keep investments and businesses going on so we can make profit from the business so as to strengthen our naira and boost our reserves...

My own is that let the best candidate win, and if u loose please be quick to accepet defeat that will help a lot to curb #PostElectionViolence.

God bless Nigeria!

now I know Nigeria is broke but d Government quickly denied it. all d looted money from Abacha have u reasoned what it has been used for.?? when d oil price was high what did d government do with. d money. think and ask questions don't just support

We cleared our debts.

We spent years saving up money.

Reetardeen Jona--daft came to power.

Wasted and looted all our money with his fellow crooked friends and shepopotamus wife.

Now he is putting future Nigerian kids in debt.

And some fuuktards would still say GEJ till 4703?

I listened to her explanation and she is so on point. The loan is repayable within 25 years and has an interest rate of 4% which according to her is the best around coming from the African Development Bank. On a final note, it's better to borrow this money than draw from your reserve besides the money was borrowed for a good reason. So don't kill her just yet.

Editor1:
GEJ, go ahead and borrow any amount u want...

The S-south has given u the go-ahead. Afterall, wen its comes to repay the loans, its still the oil money from south dat is used....not the rotten onions from North!
Its our money...we spend it as we wish.

Meanwhile its GEJ till we find a better replacement!

You can't read any other vague or daft comment like this in 2015 again

babestella:
I listened to her explanation and she is so on point. The loan is repayable within 25 years and has an interest rate of 4% which according to her is the best around coming from the African Development Bank. On a final note, it's better to borrow this money than draw from your reserve besides the money was borrowed for a good reason. So don't kill her just yet.

Please help a brother out, what is the good reason why we are borrowing over 400billion naira?

She is in an occultic group with them and thier mission given is to ruin the lives of nigerians citizens so no matter the oil as 6 pruducing country in the world

majority of NG citizens will beg for food.

May God help them...

They all need to go to jail.

Editor1:
GEJ, go ahead and borrow any amount u want...

The S-south has given u the go-ahead. Afterall, wen its comes to repay the loans, its still the oil money from south dat is used....not the rotten onions from North!
Its our money...we spend it as we wish.

Meanwhile its GEJ till we find a better replacement!

you people so lack exposure, as if you can manage the oil without feud among your militia elders. DOLO

angelsing:
This is just plain ignorance(sorry for the choice of words).Do the american economic lack basic amenities?...If you are in debt and ur economy is stable I doubt if anyone will complain about it...A case study is Manchester United: they are in debt but they still make as much money as anyone thereby servicing their debt without affecting the Club....Dude I know u wish to defend the President due to the Love u have for him but its plain obvious the country is Shambles right now.

So the countries that should borrow money are the ones with stable economies OMG... Nigerians.

chronique:
There are always several ways to tackle an issue under decision making theory. He who is saddled with the responsibility just needs to carefully identify all the available options,list the possible outcomes of alternatives forgone,select a decision making technique he's comfortable with,apply it,review the outcomes based on the technique used,make a decision and recommend and action to be taken. She's the finance minister and I'm in no way near her standard by virtue of academic qualification or work experience when it comes to dealing with macro-economic issues but I believe with her experience,she'd do what's best for the nation.

^^^^
The first 4 lines of your post above shows the sequence for logical, rational, scientific behaviour in problem solving. The 4th and 5th lines also shows the modesty that comes with realizing one's limits in a subject area in which one has not acquired extensive training or experience. Almost perfect. The only thing missing is the healthy skepticism that should accompany your scrutiny of policy and those who execute it. Which is why the bolded part of the last line in your post is so alarming.

There is a Russian phrase which gained prominence during the Cold War: "Doveryay, no proveryay". Trust but verify. I urge you to apply this expression in your assessment of the Honourable Minister and the work she does. The track record of Nigerian technocrats and policy chiefs should have purged every adult Nigerian of the kind of faith you have in Mrs Okonjo Iweala. I crossed the line from healthy skepticism to cynicism a long time ago and I have no regrets. None.

chronique:


Now,there are things basic economic knowledge would teach you,and there are things you can't know if you haven't studied managerial economics and practised it to an advance level. That's why I'd say you should give it to her. The decision to source a loan to defend the naira must have been carefully looked at,before making it. Don't forget that prior to this time,we've been spending our reserves to defend the naira.

^^^^

Again sir, you exhibit your almost religious faith in those who purport to decide on our behalf. Several posters have already warned of the long term consequences of external debt servicing on this economy. Their words are not empty hyperbole or conjecture. Ask those who had already come of age during the early to mid 80s - debt service repayments, IMF conditionalities and Structural Adjustment Policy requirements hollowed out this economy in ways that it still has not recovered from, almost 3 decades later. I can still remember the currency devaluation of the mid 1980s which heralded the Structural Adjustment Programme - a policy action forced by Nigeria's creditors because of Nigeria's external debt profile. Are we ready to go back there again?

No loan can save the Naira now - it is too late. The next devaluation is only a matter of time.

chronique:

Now,talking about govt spending so much on reccurent expenditure,I doubt if the executive can make any serious headway there. Cost of governance is so high and the executive do not have the constitutional powers to unilaterally raise or reduce it. That's the job of our legislative arm of govt comprising the senate and house of reps. For this set of people,what they get is more important than what the masses get. Nigeria operates a bicameral legislature with both houses performing almost the same functions. With the high level of amount spent in maintaining these two houses,it's only logical that we find a way of switching to a unicameral legislature so we can free up money for more meaningful capital projects. But how do we go about it? You and I know that our senators and house of rep members wouldn't agree to this,neither would they agree to give up a substantial amount of what they earn in form of salaries and allowances. This is something that is beyond the executive. It's only the masses who can do this by way of mandating elected officers from their constituencies,to push for a bill like this or support it if it is brought up for a vote,or risk being recalled. But the question is,how many of us are aware that we have the constitutional powers to recall non-performing officers elected from our various constituencies?
Most Nigerians find it difficult to differenciate between a democratic system of govt and military rule. Because our past leaders had absolute powers,we think the president too should have same. But it doesn't work like that.

^^^^
Your first point sir, about legislative approval being a requirement for scaling recurrent expenditure up (or down) is news to me. Which part of recurrent expenditure? Does the National Assembly need to sit before it is clear that a presidential fleet of almost 10 aircraft is unconscionable? The federal government recently announced some cost cutting austerity measures. As far as I am aware, lawmakers had no role to play in that decision. So which constitutional powers are you talking about?

I do agree with you though, that Nigerians have not held their lawmakers to the standards they should be held to. And Nigerians have no one but themselves to blame for that.

queltard!!!

Editor1:
GEJ, go ahead and borrow any amount u want...

The S-south has given u the go-ahead. Afterall, wen its comes to repay the loans, its still the oil money from south dat is used....not the rotten onions from North!
Its our money...we spend it as we wish.

Meanwhile its GEJ till we find a better replacement!

the ability to service a debt is the single most important factor to consider when borrowing.
@ chronique is either dishonest or ignorant when he made attempt to compare the debt of an industrial nation to that of a third world.
yes, countries like us, japan, uk have a high debt-gdp ratio, but they have the means to service their debt and thats what matters.
this countries can do so because they service their debt using their respective local currency e.g America service its debt in dollars, japan owe its debt in yen.
the advantage in this is that they can print more money to pay off their debt if need be. America has been doing this for some time now and that's why nations are worried about dollar remaining the global currency.
besides, industrial nations are mostly productive with a highly diversified economy.
thus they will always be revenue in the government coffers.
Now it's a whole different ball game for developing or emerging economies.
this countries borrow in dollars and are expected to pay back in dollars, a currency they have no control over.
unlike America that prints dollar at will, these countries need to earn every single dollar by exporting either a product or service. Inability to do so simply means they are at the mercies of their debtors.
most developing nations are mono-economy with weak infrastructures, thus revenue is limited.
Therefore ability to service their debts quickly becomes an issue anytime there is an economic crisis, unlike what obtains in developed nations.
Japan has been battling economic depression since 2000 while US has seen a weak growth over the past 8 years, yet none have defaulted on their loan servicing. But take a look at greece n u can appreciate what I ve been saying.
nigeria story will be more like greece or ghana or argentina when world bank comes calling.

My major focus when I put out those figures,was to point most people to the difference in the reserves of these nations viz-a-viz their debt profile and compare with what we have in Nigeria. Your analysis about the U.S debt and how they can,simply means you do not know much about what's happening with the U.S now. For the U.S to get money into the system,they have to go into more debt and this is a continuos system. They keep borrowing from the federal reserves and guess what? For every debt the U.S sinks into,they're indirectly dragging the whole world with them. The amount of dollar in circulation worldwide,is nowhere near the amount of dollars the U.S owes. Secondly,the U.S govt can't go about printing dollars to pay off their debt cos they do not own it. The federal reserves own it and for any amount of money to be released to the govt,they have to borrow it.

I understand your fears about Nigeria going the way of Greece or Argentina but if you read my post,you'd notice where I said that "the fact that we have a low debt ratio doesn't mean we should keep borrowing". My arguement with most people here is that,there is no nation that doesn't have a debt profile(be it internal or external). This is basic economics. We shouldn't try to blow issues out of proportion. External debt when Obasanjo left was 3.5 bn dollars and this was owed by the FG alone. Today,it is around 9bn dollars with the FG owing around 6bn. This means that from that period till now,the FG has only added roughly 3bn dollars to its external debt in 8 yrs. I do not think this is totally a very poor record if you ask me.

People keep complaining about how our reserves have dipped from what Obasanjo left,forgetting that there was a global recession in 2008 and the crisis affected Nigeria also.
The exchange rate has been volatile since the crisis ensued. The official exchange rate showed that the Naira depreciated against the dollar by 25.6 percent (highest depreciation recorded since 2000 till date) between 2008 and 2009,reflecting the demand pressure relative to supply with implications for the foreign reserve. Nigeria’s External Reserves which was strong before the time of crisis dropped from 62 billion in mid-2008 to 42.4 billion in 2009 and 32.3 billion in 2010.

It is to this end,that I sometimes marvel at the way we approach issues in this country and apportion blames on individuals. In all of these NOI wasn't yet a finance minister as at that time. Shamsuddeen Usman from the Yar'adua govt was our finance minister as at that time.

SIRTee15:
the ability to service a debt is the single most important factor to consider when borrowing.
@ chronique is either dishonest or ignorant when he made attempt to compare the debt of an industrial nation to that of a third world.
yes, countries like us, japan, uk have a high debt-gdp ratio, but they have the means to service their debt and thats what matters.
this countries can do so because they service their debt using their respective local currency e.g America service its debt in dollars, japan owe its debt in yen.
the advantage in this is that they can print more money to pay off their debt if need be. America has been doing this for some time now and that's why nations are worried about dollar remaining the global currency.
besides, industrial nations are mostly productive with a highly diversified economy.
thus they will always be revenue in the government coffers.
Now it's a whole different ball game for developing or emerging economies.
this countries borrow in dollars and are expected to pay back in dollars, a currency they have no control over.
unlike America that prints dollar at will, these countries need to earn every single dollar by exporting either a product or service. Inability to do so simply means they are at the mercies of their debtors.
most developing nations are mono-economy with weak infrastructures, thus revenue is limited.
Therefore ability to service their debts quickly becomes an issue anytime there is an economic crisis, unlike what obtains in developed nations.
Japan has been battling economic depression since 2000 while US has seen a weak growth over the past 8 years, yet none have defaulted on their loan servicing. But take a look at greece n u can appreciate what I ve been saying.
nigeria story will be more like greece or ghana or argentina when world bank comes calling.

chuna1985:


So the countries that should borrow money are the ones with stable economies OMG... Nigerians.

Nope, we borrow money but the questions is what do we spend that money on?..Is it visible for u to see?.. all the money borrowed is it used judiciously...My point is we borrow money but don't use it well...like America u used as an example, they borrow money but their economy is stable. Can u say same for our country?

Sometimes when most people talk about the SAP and IMF policies as somewhat devilish,I justa laugh. What is a SAP supposed to do? SAPs are supposed to allow the economies of the developing countries to become more market oriented. This then forces them to concentrate more on trade and production so it can boost their economy. Through conditions, SAPs generally implement "free market" programs and policy. These programs include internal changes (notably privatization and deregulation) as well as external ones, especially the reduction of trade barriers. Countries are expected to fashion out a way to tweak this program to suit their respective economies. Malaysia,Singapore,Thailand,Taiwan,South Korea,etc are some of the countries that have used this program and it has helped their economies. Today,we have all manner of goods being manufactured in these countries and sold around the world. Nigeria's own did not work due to corruption;not because it was largely a bad program.

On the issue of recurrent expenditure and the legislative,I was hammering on what the govt spends on its officials. Try and peruse any copy of our budget and you'd find out we're wasting so much on the legislative arm of govt. Yes,I think something needs to be done about the presidential fleet of aircrafts but the truth is,I do not know much about that. Maybe I have to do a lil research on it,for me to be able to talk on that.

VolvoS60:


^^^^
The first 4 lines of your post above shows the sequence for logical, rational, scientific behaviour in problem solving. The 4th and 5th lines also shows the modesty that comes with realizing one's limits in a subject area in which one has not acquired extensive training or experience. Almost perfect. The only thing missing is the healthy skepticism that should accompany your scrutiny of policy and those who execute it. Which is why the bolded part of the last line in your post is so alarming.

There is a Russian phrase which gained prominence during the Cold War: "Doveryay, no proveryay". Trust but verify. I urge you to apply this expression in your assessment of the Honourable Minister and the work she does. The track record of Nigerian technocrats and policy chiefs should have purged every adult Nigerian of the kind of faith you have in Mrs Okonjo Iweala. I crossed the line from healthy skepticism to cynicism a long time ago and I have no regrets. None.





^^^^

Again sir, you exhibit your almost religious faith in those who purport to decide on our behalf. Several posters have already warned of the long term consequences of external debt servicing on this economy. Their words are not empty hyperbole or conjecture. Ask those who had already come of age during the early to mid 80s - debt service repayments, IMF conditionalities and Structural Adjustment Policy requirements hollowed out this economy in ways that it still has not recovered from, almost 3 decades later. I can still remember the currency devaluation of the mid 1980s which heralded the Structural Adjustment Programme - a policy action forced by Nigeria's creditors because of Nigeria's external debt profile. Are we ready to go back there again?

No loan can save the Naira now - it is too late. The next devaluation is only a matter of time.





^^^^
Your first point sir, about legislative approval being a requirement for scaling recurrent expenditure up (or down) is news to me. Which part of recurrent expenditure? Does the National Assembly need to sit before it is clear that a presidential fleet of almost 10 aircraft is unconscionable? The federal government recently announced some cost cutting austerity measures. As far as I am aware, lawmakers had no role to play in that decision. So which constitutional powers are you talking about?

I do agree with you though, that Nigerians have not held their lawmakers to the standards they should be held to. And Nigerians have no one but themselves to blame for that.

angelsing:
Nope, we borrow money but the questions is what do we spend that money on?..Is it visible for u to see?.. all the money borrowed is it used judiciously...My point is we borrow money but don't use it well...like America u used as an example, they borrow money but their economy is stable. Can u say same for our country?

Nekwa nu dis guy, Do u know anything about the American economy Do u Follow it

Stupidity at its highest level, borrowing money to stabilise the Naira? I give up.

angelsing:
Nope, we borrow money but the questions is what do we spend that money on?..Is it visible for u to see?.. all the money borrowed is it used judiciously...My point is we borrow money but don't use it well...like America u used as an example, they borrow money but their economy is stable. Can u say same for our country?

GEjs government borrows Money and use it wella. The only P that makes u think otherwise is that you misunderstand the true state of the nigerian wealth/economy.

chuna1985:


Nekwa nu dis guy, Do u know anything about the American economy Do u Follow it

Please enlighten me...One thing I know, they have good power supply, good roads, infrastructure,low unemployment rate compare to nigeria,food at cheaper rate etc...At list I know they don't have oil like Nigeria and they don't borrow for their budget...Please I like u to enlighten me about their economy...I just wonder how we have to support everything the government does while the Economy is in shambles...will be waiting for ur enlightening regarding American Economy

chuna1985:


GEjs government borrows Money and use it wella. The only P that makes u think otherwise is that you misunderstand the true state of the nigerian wealth/economy.

I like the way u dodge all the question I raised..Anyway God will see us through.

angelsing:
Please enlighten me...One thing I know, they have good power supply, good roads, infrastructure,low unemployment rate compare to nigeria,food at cheaper rate etc...At list I know they don't have oil like Nigeria and they don't borrow for their budget...Please I like u to enlighten me about their economy...I just wonder how we have to support everything the government does while the Economy is in shambles...will be waiting for ur enlightening regarding American Economy

Nigeria economy has been in shambles even before GEJ became a governor in Nigeria so that's not a point. Point of correction,America have much more oil than Nigeria too. They also have a massive debt problem + unemployment that is officially about 6% which many American economists says it's whey beyond that.

wen an economy is in shambles, government borrow money and it's normal. some countries even owe 700% of their GDP

angelsing:
Nope, we borrow money but the questions is what do we spend that money on?..Is it visible for u to see?.. all the money borrowed is it used judiciously...My point is we borrow money but don't use it well...like America u used as an example, they borrow money but their economy is stable. Can u say same for our country?

Did we not utilize the money we have been borrowing? or did ur local government share it for u people in d village ?

chuna1985:


Did we not utilize the money we have been borrowing? or did ur local government share it for u people in d village ?

hahahha...no point arguing again...Nigeria is the best country in Africa

chuna1985:


Nigeria economy has been in shambles even before GEJ became a governor in Nigeria so that's not a point. Point of correction,America have much more oil than Nigeria too. They also have a massive debt problem + unemployment that is officially about 6% which many American economists says it's whey beyond that.

wen an economy is in shambles, government borrow money and it's normal. some countries even owe 700% of their GDP

This is Classic!...Never knew America has Oil oo....Hahahahahah...Guy kwantinue..No point arguing with u again oo...lol

chuna1985:


Nigeria economy has been in shambles even before GEJ became a governor in Nigeria so that's not a point.

Goodluck Jonathan has been in the corridors of power as far back as 2003. That is 12years now, about 22% of Nigeria's independent history. How long more

Yes,America has oil. Their oil reserves is more than ours. Their's is called shale oil,and it's currently cheaper than crude oil. They have actually cut down their oil imports from around the world,and have stopped buying Nigeria's crude oil. The production of shale oil in America,has affected the price of crude oil in the international market. Hence,the drop in price of a barrel of crude oil. Saudi Arabia,a member of OPEC,aint even helping matters by increasing pump output. This altogether makes the supply of crude in the market excess as compared to demand. Member countries of Opec,have been calling for a reduction in barrels produced daily so as to stabilize price but the Saudi's aren't in support of it. There's a lot of politicking going on in the oil market. If the price of oil would go up,Nigeria would be used as a scapegoat in achieving that. If Buhari wins and the militants decide to shut down oil production,price of a barrel of oil is definitely going to climb up back. It's an indirect way of cutting output from Opec. The election in Nigeria this year,is important to the international world. A post election crisis that affects our oil output,would be of immense benefit to other countries.

angelsing:
This is Classic!...Never knew America has Oil oo....Hahahahahah...Guy kwantinue..No point arguing with u again oo...lol

chronique:
Yes,America has oil. Their oil reserves is more than ours. Their's is called shale oil,and it's currently cheaper than crude oil. They have actually cut down their oil imports from around the world,and have stopped buying Nigeria's crude oil. The production of shale oil in America,has affected the price of crude oil in the international market. Hence,the drop in price of a barrel of crude oil. Saudi Arabia,a member of OPEC,aint even helping matters by increasing pump output. This altogether makes the supply of crude in the market excess as compared to demand. Member countries of Opec,have been calling for a reduction in barrels produced daily so as to stabilize price but the Saudi's aren't in support of it. There's a lot of politicking going on in the oil market. If the price of oil would go up,Nigeria would be used as a scapegoat in achieving that. If Buhari wins and the militants decide to shut down oil production,price of a barrel of oil is definitely going to climb up back. It's an indirect way of cutting output from Opec. The election in Nigeria this year,is important to the international world. A post election crisis that affects our oil output,would be of immense benefit to other countries.

We cannot remain in fear of what militants and terrorists will do or not do. We need a leadership that would stop empowering militants and miscreants.

chronique:
Yes,America has oil. Their oil reserves is more than ours. Their's is called shale oil,and it's currently cheaper than crude oil. They have actually cut down their oil imports from around the world,and have stopped buying Nigeria's crude oil. The production of shale oil in America,has affected the price of crude oil in the international market. Hence,the drop in price of a barrel of crude oil. Saudi Arabia,a member of OPEC,aint even helping matters by increasing pump output. This altogether makes the supply of crude in the market excess as compared to demand. Member countries of Opec,have been calling for a reduction in barrels produced daily so as to stabilize price but the Saudi's aren't in support of it. There's a lot of politicking going on in the oil market. If the price of oil would go up,Nigeria would be used as a scapegoat in achieving that. If Buhari wins and the militants decide to shut down oil production,price of a barrel of oil is definitely going to climb up back. It's an indirect way of cutting output from Opec. The election in Nigeria this year,is important to the international world. A post election crisis that affects our oil output,would be of immense benefit to other countries.

Am not talking about Oil they have saved for rainy days and not oil generated by other means, I mean like crude oil which can exported and Sold to other countries...So when he said they have oil he made it look like they have oil like oil producing country and market it too...I know the oil America has in reserve can serve them for the next 100yrs..I know America has find other minds to produce oil rather than continue to import crude oil.

Problem started with Obj rushing to clear debt...uk is half the size of nigeria yet they owe 1trillion dollars. .they borrow to better their country...what stoos us fron birrowing to build refineries and permanent power supply... As for ngozi...all she has is an over rated title with incomplete economic sense

Yes,they have shale oil. Pls research on these things yourself.

angelsing:
Am not talking about Oil they have saved for rainy days and not oil generated by other means, I mean like crude oil which can exported and Sold to other countries...So when he said they have oil he made it look like they have oil like oil producing country and market it too...I know the oil America has in reserve can serve them for the next 100yrs..I know America has find other minds to produce oil rather than continue to import crude oil.