$22bn: ‘No Country Survives on Reckless Borrowing’ – Peter Obi

Former Governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi has stated that no country survived on reckless borrowing intended for consumption.

He said while speaking against the intended borrowing of $22bn by the Federal Government of Nigeria stating that if the country must borrow, then it should prove the business case of the borrowing.

He further stated that no country borrows a quarter of its GDP without showing tangible investments for which the borrowed funds will be deployed.

His statement reads, “Everybody knows my stand on borrowing. I am against reckless borrowing and borrowing for consumption. If you must borrow, you must be able to prove the business case of the borrowing convincingly, otherwise, you are mortgaging the future.

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All the funds that have been borrowed for long in the country have not impacted positively on the growth of Nigeria’s economy, meaning that they were reckless and intended for consumption. Even using Kenya & Ghana in Africa, for example, both are borrowing like us. But the difference is, in 2010, Ghana’s GDP was 32 billion US Dollars, with per-capita of $1320, in 2019 its GDP had grown to $64.5 billion, with per-capita of $2200.No country borrows a quarter of its GDP without showing tangible investments or projects into which the borrowed funds would be deployed. -PO”

Recently, the Nigerian Senate has approved the borrowing of $22bn by the administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari which is intended to build many infrastructures in the country.