<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMinister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday, explained\u00a0the rationale behind the Federal Government\u2019s\u00a0decision\u00a0to borrow $5.5billion.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nAmid concerns raised by Nigerians about\u00a0the nation\u2019s foreign debt profile, Adeosun, who appeared on Channels Television\u2019s<\/em> Sunrise Daily, said: \u201cwe are not in a huge amount of debt.\u201d<\/p>\nThe minister\u2019s statement comes more than two weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari wrote to the National Assembly, seeking the approval for $5.5bn external loans to finance the 2017 Appropriation Act.<\/p>\n
She,\u00a0however, maintained that the country\u2019s debt profile stands low when compared to developed nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria\u2019s borrowings are actually low relative to the size of our GDP; it is one of the areas where we are doing very well. We have a debt GDP of 17 percent; Ghana is 68, South Africa is about 52, most developed countries are about 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe threshold for a developing economy is 40; we are 17, Britain is 89, America is over a hundred. Even Germany which is probably the most conservative borrowing country in Europe is 68. So we are not in the huge amount of debt,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n
On the controversy trailing the proposed loan, She said, \u201cOut of that $5.5bn, $2.5bn is for the 2017 budget, $3bn is simply to refinance money that we already owe. We inherited a lot of treasury bills; so every 90 days, those bills mature and we have to pay interest on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what we want to do is to take $3bn and then as the treasury bills mature, we will refinance from naira into dollar,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
ChannelsTV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
$5.5B Loan Request: Finance Minister Adeosun Dissects Rationale Behind The Loan$5.5bn Loan: Nigeria Not In Huge Debt, Adeosun Clarifies October 26, 2017 Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday, explained\u00a0the rationale behind the Federal Government\u2019s\u00a0decision\u00a0to borrow $5.5billion. Amid concerns raised by Nigerians about\u00a0the nation\u2019s foreign debt profile, Adeosun, who appeared on Channels Television\u2019s Sunrise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
$5.5B Loan Request: Finance Minister Adeosun Dissects Rationale Behind The Loan<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n