IGR Has Failed, Borrowing Is Our Only Option-Public Analyst

BORROWING is not a crime, most countries of the world do it when their internally generated revenue is not sufficient to actualise their projects, says public affairs analyst Alesta Wilcox.

The Accountant and Social Commentator said Nigeria is not doing anything wrong by borrowing, more so, when you consider the fact that developed countries also go borrow.

Nigeria as a developing nation is one country where revenue has always been a challenge. Because revenue is always a challenge, there is an infrastructure deficit and so many other projects that need to be done.

Borrowing therefore becomes a legitimate source for revenue capital projects

Reacting to the finance minister Zainab Ahmed’s comment that Nigeria will continue to borrow, Alesta said “as much as I don’t like borrowing or engaging myself in such, the nation Nigeria does not have many options.

He asked if the government should start selling assets, increase taxes, remove fuel subsidies or charge school fees to generate more revenue. He harped on the fact that most Nigerians do not pay tax, especially businesses and business owners.

“The issues of borrowing will still continue until we have come to a point when we would have met the internationally acceptable threshold, visavis size of our economy with respect to our debt profile.

“One good thing about this government borrowing is that they do not borrow for consumption, they borrow mainly for capital expenditure and so far this government has only been able to borrow close to 14 billion dollars.

Alesta Wilcox however suggested that when borrowing, we must ensure that the terms and conditions are right, the safeguards are there and the moratorium are also there.

Meanwhile, President, Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN), Comrade Prince Saviour Ichie, has mocked the idea of borrowing to build bridges, construct roads amongst other things, saying the government needs to build capacity, help youths develop and grow micro-entrepreneurial businesses.

Prince Ichie, said the naira is constantly dancing “hip hop” in the forex, the cost of food stuff is soaring higher by the day, manufacturing companies are shutting down yet we are borrowing to construct roads.

He said it is a laughable situation but that’s where we are, we just hope the government will help the manufacturing industry come alive so that it can contribute to the depleting GDP of the country.