The Federal Government has disclosed that the nation’s Public Debt based on existing appropriation will hit N32.5 trillion by December 31, 2020 and N38.68 trillion by December 31, 2021.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ahmed Zainab, who made this known while appearing before the Senate Committee of Local and Foreign Debts, added that the nation’s debt stood at N31.01 trillion as at June 30, 2020.
Ahmed said the 2021 Appropriation Bill provides for new borrowing N4.1 trillion.
The new borrowing is broken down between Domestic Borrowing of N2.5 trillion and External Borrowing of N2.5 trillion.
The Minister said: “The total public debt stock comprising the External and Domestic Debts of the Federal and State Governments and the Federal Capital Territory, which stood at N31.01 ($85.90 billion) as at June 30, 2020, it is projected, based on existing approval, to rise to N32.51 trillion by December 31, 2020 and N38.68 trillion by December 31, 2021.
“The current Sukuk Fund of N162 billion is for 45 roads cutting across the six geopolitical zones.
“I’m one person that feels that we should just do this and take one major road in one geopolitical zone and finish.
“We were not able to do that because of the processes in which appropriation is made both at the Executive as well as the Legislative arms of government.
“But truly, if we were able to just take one or two projects at a time and complete it before going to the next one, it will be better.
“So what the contractor does is the bit that has been cut out for him to do in that particular area.
“Once the fund is released and it is finished, we stop again.
“That’s the consequence of these numerous projects that we put in the budget.
“It is not related to Sukuk-funded projects alone.
“It cuts across all the projects.
“You will see a road that costs, may be N5 billion, and you will see a provision for N100 million, N200 million or N300 million.
“Of course the project will never finish.
“After two years, the contractor comes back and asks for variation and the amount keeps growing.
“I wish that we get to a point when we sit down as a government and agree that let us select a few projects, finish them in 2020, and then in 2021, we select the next.
“So that on a geopolitical basis, those selections are done as a collective process.”