African Development Bank President,Akinwumi Adesina wants Nigeria to tackle its debt challenges quickly.
Speaking at the Mid term Ministerial Retreat at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on Monday, Akinwumi said the call for Nigeria was imperative to save the country from further vulnerability of its economy
” The issue is not about debt to GDP ratio,at 35% It is actually still moderate. The big issue is how to service the debt and what that means for resources for domestic investments needed to spur faster economic growth” The debt service ratio for Nigeria is high at 75% . Things of course would improve as oil prices recover but the situation has revealed the vulnerability of Nigeria’s economy.
” To have economic resurgence,we need to fix the structure of the economy.and address some basic fundamentals.Nigeria’s challenge is revenue concentration.As the oil sector accounts for roughly 75% of export revenue, and according to the statistics of the Central Bank 50% of all government revenue, what is needed for sustained growth and economic resurgence is to remove the structural bottlenecks that limit the productivity and revenue earning potential of the huge non oil sector.
Adesina had also called on the federal government to relaunch Agricultural programmes including wheat farming,E- wallet he initiated as Minister to bolster food production adding that other nations who borrowed the initiative which was stopped by the present administration are thriving.
