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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Buhari’s Budget’ll Turn Nigeria To A Debtor Nation – PDP (303 Views)
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Buhari’s Budget’ll Turn Nigeria To A Debtor Nation – PDP by simtosul: 7:46am On Dec 30, 2015 |
The Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that
the proposed N1.84tn borrowing for the N6.08tn
budget presented to the National Assembly by
President Muhammadu Buhari has made the
nation a borrowing country.
It said that with this, the country was going the
way of Greece.
The National Publicity Secretary of the main
opposition party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said this in
an interview with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
He explained that a breakdown of the N1.84tn
showed that Nigeria would be borrowing N5bn a
day for the next 365 days, starting from January
1, 2016, without corresponding provision for
economic production and a clear repayment plan,
a scenario he said spelled doom for the nation.
Metuh said, “Some people may be wondering why
we raised an alarm about the budget. The reason
is simple.
“When we analysed the budget, we discovered it
is a misshapen attempt at a Keynesian economics
of applying deficit spending to stimulate growth
even when studies have proven that GDP growth
rates decrease by over 50 per cent when debt
goes from low or moderate to high. But then we
know the borrowing here is to pay huge campaign
debt and fund a political war chest.
“By every standard, this budget is a booby trap
against the nation. When you break down the
proposed N1.84tn borrowing, you discover that it
amounts to borrowing N5bn everyday for the 365
days in 2016. The questions are: for what specific
projects are they borrowing N5bn per day and
how do they intend to pay back?
“The President should explain to Nigerians how
they intend to pay back the loan. Is it by
continuous borrowing to service the interests?
And does he intend to accumulate a colossal debt
for future generations of Nigerians?
“The truth is that this administration cannot
justify this proposal. There is no known economy
in the world where you can justify borrowing
N1.84tn without specific projects and precise
repayment outline.
“This is worse still in an oil-driven, mono-economy
at a time crude oil is selling for $30 per barrel
and is speculated to go down to about $20 or
even lower in the next one year. The idea can only
come when you diversify the economy and boost
production capacity in manufacturing and other
critical sectors, a direction, which the budget
clearly failed to provide.”
Metuh added that from all indicators, the
borrowing would be negative, alleging that the
President was driving the country towards the
path of Greece.
He said, “They are driving us to be like Greece,
and to plunge us into an unnecessary debt. When
the PDP took office in 1999, we achieved the
cancellation of inherited debts.
“This administration, in seeking to accumulate
debts, should know that there is no possibility
that any country in the world will give us debt
cancellation anymore.”
Metuh said he and members of his party were
worried about what he described as the negative
economic policies of the present administration
and the copying of strategies that he said failed
in other economies.
He said, “Recall that we had earlier alerted on the
negative consequences of the retrogressive
foreign exchange controls wherein this
government is making it impossible for honest
Nigerians to engage in free trade and regulate
their personal activities.
“There seems to be the erroneous belief that the
controls will create foreign exchange stability or
strengthen the naira by limiting foreign currency
outflows.
“This policy had badly affected other countries in
the recent past; including Argentina, whose new
government had to reverse the policy to save the
country’s economy. Why then are we copying a
policy that failed in other countries?”
Metuh added that in practice, the kind of control
the Federal Government was implementing had
been proven ineffective in preventing capital
flight.
He challenged the Federal Government to a public
debate on the budget.
But the Presidency has said the money that will
be borrowed in the 2016 Budget is for capital
projects.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, made
the clarification in an interview with one of our
correspondents.
Shehu was reacting to a statement credited to
the PDP that the proposed N1.84tn borrowing
from the N6.08tn Budget as presented by Buhari
had made Nigeria a borrowing nation.
Shehu said the borrowings would not be spent on
any recurrent expenditure.
He added that the Budget Office was working on
the figures and it would be made known to the
public once job was concluded on the document.
“The borrowings are for capital projects, they are
not for recurrent expenditures like feeding,
salaries among others,” the presidential
spokesperson said. www.punchng.com/buharis-budgetll-turn-nigeria-to-a-debtor-nation-pdp/ |
Re: Buhari’s Budget’ll Turn Nigeria To A Debtor Nation – PDP by mrborntodoit: 8:04am On Dec 30, 2015 |
APC, una see who una vote for ? The change is now in coins..... |
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Happy New Year NL / A Year Of Recovery Of Funds~@mbuhari / Learn How To Design A Website In Just 3days.
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