Nigeria Spends 60% of Revenue On Debts, The Economist Says

By Uche Mbah

The Economist, the international Business Magazine that is considered to be the mouthpiece of International Banking Concerns, has said that Nigeria spends sixty percent of her earnings to service loans.

In a publication on their website monitored in Lagos, The Magazine said the Nigerian government is postponing a crisis, not averting one.

“Officials are postponing a crisis, not averting one. Consider borrowing. The debt-to-GDP ratio is 28 per cent, but Nigeria collects so little in tax that interest payments swallow about 60 per cent of federal revenues,” the Magazine said.

Since the Buhari administration, the country has gone into a borrowing spree that has not ended even with fears of mortgaging future generations to debt overhang.

Their borrowing from China has been a source of worry since China do not like to renegotiate but will immediately seize the collateral, as they have done in an African country, where they have seized an International Airport.

“Where urgency is needed, Mr Buhari offers only caution. Few are holding their breath for any more drive in his second term, which began on May 29th”, the report said.

The report painted a gloomy picture of the future of Nigerian economy, describing it as stuck like a stranded truck.

“The Nigerian economy is stuck like a stranded truck. Average incomes have been falling for four years; the IMF thinks they will not rise for at least another six.

The latest figures put unemployment at 23 per cent, after growing for 15 consecutive quarters. Some 94 million people live on less than $1.90 a day, more than in any other country, and the number is swelling.

By 2030, a quarter of very poor people will be Nigerians, predicts the World Data Lab, which counts such things.”

Since Buhari took over power in Nigeria, he has run the government without an economic team. But he he has so many aids and assistants on image laundering and propaganda.