Nigeria Won’t Have Exited Recession Without Borrowing – Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed

Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed said Nigeria would not have recovered from recession without borrowing funds.

The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said that the recent borrowings by the Federal Government were instrumental to the country’s exit from recessions.

Mrs. Ahmed, who stated this on Friday during the Public Presentation and Breakdown of the 2022 Appropriation Bill, said Nigeria wouldn’t have exited recession without borrowing.

She said, “Having witnessed two consecutive recessions, we have had to spend our way out of the recession which contributed significantly to the growth of our public debts.”

“It is unlikely that our recovery from these recessions would have been as fast without the sustained government expenditure funded partly by debt.”

Despite concerns raised by critics and opposition parties, the finance minister explained that borrowings have helped the government in providing infrastructure to boost the economy as well as help curb the country’s rising level of insecurity.

She said, “Borrowings are essential to enable us to deploy necessary capital expenditure and invest in human capital development.

“To compound matters, the country has technically been at war, with the pervasive security challenges across the nation.

“This has necessitated massive expenditures on security equipment and operations, contributing to the fiscal deficit; Defence and Security sector accounts for 22% of the 2022 budget!”

Mrs. Ahmed further assured Nigerians that the federal government’s debt portfolio is still within sustainable limits.

KanyiDaily recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigeria’s debt profile is rising because his administration had to spend its way out of two recessions.