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The office of the Minister of Budget and National Planning on Tuesday explained why the minister, Udoma Udoma, was hesitant in providing the status on the country’s total debt status on demand on Monday.
At the opening session of the policy dialogue on the Nigerian economy at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#22) in Abuja, Mr. Udoma had requested for time to come up with the exact figure of the country’s debt status when CNN’s Zain Asher Ejiofor, anchor of the programme, asked him for the information.
The minister’s spokesperson, Akpandem James, said in answering a follow-up question on the issue, which followed the thread of the discussion on recent capital releases for infrastructure project, “the Minister naturally assumed that she (the anchor of the programme) was referring to contractors’ liabilities”.
Consequently, the minister requested for time to cross-check with the relevant authorities in the issue before coming with the exact figures, given the multi-sectoral nature of the subject.
“The Minister did not think the question related to the overall debt position of the country, which includes external borrowings and other liabilities.
“So the issue of the Minister not answering a question on the overall debt stock of the country does not arise,” the spokesperson said.
“For the information of the public, the total national debt stock (both the Federal Government and the States) stood at N16.3 trillion as at June 30, this year. This is made of foreign liabilities of N3.2 trillion and domestic liabilities of N13.1 trillion,” he added.
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At the opening session of the policy dialogue on the Nigerian economy at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#22) in Abuja, Mr. Udoma had requested for time to come up with the exact figure of the country’s debt status when CNN’s Zain Asher Ejiofor, anchor of the programme, asked him for the information.
The minister’s spokesperson, Akpandem James, said in answering a follow-up question on the issue, which followed the thread of the discussion on recent capital releases for infrastructure project, “the Minister naturally assumed that she (the anchor of the programme) was referring to contractors’ liabilities”.
Consequently, the minister requested for time to cross-check with the relevant authorities in the issue before coming with the exact figures, given the multi-sectoral nature of the subject.
“The Minister did not think the question related to the overall debt position of the country, which includes external borrowings and other liabilities.
“So the issue of the Minister not answering a question on the overall debt stock of the country does not arise,” the spokesperson said.
“For the information of the public, the total national debt stock (both the Federal Government and the States) stood at N16.3 trillion as at June 30, this year. This is made of foreign liabilities of N3.2 trillion and domestic liabilities of N13.1 trillion,” he added.
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