The director-general of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Chijioke Ekechukwu says the Federal Government’s external borrowing plan of $5.5bn will not impact negatively on the economy, once the plan is targeted at infrastructural projects and refinancing of maturing domestic debt with less expensive long-term external debt.
The director-general was speaking against the backdrop of concerns generated when the Federal Government got the approval of the National Assembly to source $5.5 billion Eurobond loan.
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According to the director-general, “When the Federal Government got the approval of the National Assembly to source the $5.5 billion Eurobond loan, many Nigerians believed that would rush the country into another debt trap.”
He said, “During the last Economic Summit Group gathering, I said that government should stop borrowing locally, so as to reduce the pressure on rates. If the government can source for funds from outside the system, it will bring the mix that would balance from what we are suffering today.
“We shouldn’t be shy to borrow money to fund the deficit of the budget, infrastructural development and local projects. There is no problem with that and Nigerians should not worry”, he emphasised in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
Speaking further on the recent decision by the Federal Government to hire four Malaysians to help in fixing the economy, he stated that, such actions should be discouraged as Nigeria has competent hands that can successfully navigate the country out of the economic quagmire it has found herself in.
He emphasised that such persons do not have a full grasp of the political and economic environment prevailing in the country and will at best only succeed in scratching the surface of the problem.
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He advocated for the right people who would not be engrossed in partisanship, overriding personal interest and nepotism, to be appointed in the economic think tank.
While commenting on the commercial banks and their inability to lend at low rates to investors, the director-general noted that sectorial borrowing should be targeted, in order to add value to manufacturing, distribution of goods and services, pointing out that power and corruption have stubbornly remained some of the challenging problems the private sector investors and businesses are suffering from.
However, he commended the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) headed by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo for the quality of ideas and seriousness they are putting into the works in that regard.
HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA
