The Debt Management Office (DMO) said on Thursday that the Federal Government loans was not condemnable, especially when it is pumped into developmental projects and programmes.
The Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, stated this in an address at the fourth national budget roundtable and panel discussion at Covenant University, Ogun State.
She said Nigeria’s current debt profile to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 22 percent, lower than the 40 percent stipulated for developing countries by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
She stressed that the critical infrastructures projects such as the Lagos and Enugu airports, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Second Niger Bridge, among others, carried out by the Federal Government were funded with internal and external borrowings.
Oniha said: “Government borrowing can also support other sectors of the economy that attract foreign investors and have multiplier effects on the country. Also the government is working tirelessly to diversify revenue sources to reduce pressure on crude oil, which is prone to volatility.
