Nigeria is showing more signs of being broke and her insolvency is growing. Evidence of this came during budget briefing. Nigeria’s Minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, predicts that the total public debt of the country will be N38.68 trillion by December 2021.
The minister made the prediction during her presentation on status of 2019 and 2020 budgets and 2021 appropriation bill to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts. Ahmed added that “the total public debt which comprises the external and internal debts of the federal, state governments and the federal capital territory (Abuja) currently is N31.01 trillion ($85.90 billion) as of June 30, 2020.
“The projection is based on existing approval (for more loans), and it will rise to N32.51 trillion by December 31, 2020 and N38.68 trillion by December 31, 2021.”
The minister explained that the abandoned road projects across the country were because of lack of funds and the dwindling revenueof the nation. She noted that the current Sukuk fund was N162 billion and meant for 45 roads cutting across the six geopolitical zones.
She added that “I am one person who feels that we should just take one major road in one geopolitical zone and finish it. We were not able to do that because of the processes in which appropriation is made both at the executive as well as the legislative arms of government.
“But truly, if we can just take one or two projects at a time and complete it before going to the next one, it will be better.
“What the contractor does is the bit that has been cut out for him to do in that particular area.
“Once the fund is released and it is finished, we stop again. That’s the consequence of these numerous projects that we put in the budget.
“It is not related to Sukuk financed projects alone, it cuts across all the projects.