The payment of domestic debt service averaging over $5 billion has crowded out needed spending on other social sectors of the economy according to Baba Yusuf Musa, director-general West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM).
Musa disclosed this while delivering a keynote address on “Nigeria’s Emerging New Economy: Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects,” at the 2019 investiture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) held at the weekend.
Nigeria’s total debt service stood at $7.35 billion in 2018 as domestic debt grew by N458.36 billion between December 31, 2018 and March 31 2019, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).
Musa listed the challenges confronting the Nigerian economy as corruption, lack of patriotism and nationalism, poor infrastructure, and environmental issues.
“Most of our past leaders are corrupt, the nation has a failure to patronise its products (made in Nigeria). Citizens prefer holidaying in Foreign countries and undergoing medical treatment oversees, possibly because our health system is comatose”.
The WAIFEM DG said the government should continue to create a sound macroeconomic environment to stimulate strong growth.
Fiscal and monetary policy coordination should continue in order to ease inflationary pressures with declining interest rates. The private sector has to respond positively to the government’s development programmes and the improved business environment, he said.
He said Government and the private sector must collaborate for the development of the manufacturing sector of the country.
“It is important to have a transformational leadership and a followership that is alert, asking relevant questions and demanding answers from the leadership,” he said.
In his welcome address, Uche Olowu, president/chairman of council, CIBN, encouraged the banking community to further explore the opportunities of sustainable and responsible banking which would not only improve their bottom line but contribute to employment, economic growth and development.
“As bankers, my charge to us today is that as we move into the future, we should be mindful of the Environmental and Social impact of our lending. We must ensure that we finance projects that support de-carbonization in order to save our planet. Essentially, we must embrace the “green revolution or green initiatives” in every facet of human endeavour such as transportation, housing, power, Agric, etc as a way of stemming the ugly tide of global warming”, Olowu said.
Speaking with journalists after he was conferred with the honorary award by the institute, Ade Ayeyemi, group CEO for Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, called on Nigerians who borrowed money from the banks to pay back.
“I must say that people that borrow must pay back, because when they do not pay back, they make it difficult for the bank to lend in the future,” Ayeyemi said.
