Amidst the public condemnation of the country’s rising debt profile, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Wednesday, April 10, said Nigeria’s debts are sustainable.
At the end of the FEC meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, told house reporters that, Nigeria’s debts are sustainable, as efforts are in top gear to increase the country’s revenues.
He said: “Our debts are sustainable. We do have a revenue challenge and we are focusing on that. Once the revenues come up, it will be obvious that we don’t have a debt problem at all.”
“We are looking at initiatives to widening the tax pays. We are looking at initiatives to increase efficiency in collections.
“We are looking at a single window, which will help to increase efficiency, customs collections. We are looking at many different ways to improve revenues,” the minister added.
Meanwhile, Newswatch.ng earlier reported that the International Monetary Fund, (IMF), has advised the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), to keep monetary policy tight for a period of time, in order to sustain economical growth.
Speaking at the side line of the brief, at the springs meeting of the World Bank and the IMF in Washington DC, on Wednesday, April 10, Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist and the Director of Research at the IMF, while making the recommendation, said,
“Fiscal policy needs to tighten further for which mobilising more non oil revenue is very important. For monetary policy, it’s to stay tight for some more time. It has to be well communicated and transparent.