Buhari details reason for ‘deliberate borrowing’ despite debt profile

President Muhammadu Buhari, who has less than a week left in office, defended his administration’s hefty borrowing on Tuesday, calling it a “deliberate choice” to battle poverty and spur economic progress for Nigerians.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, titled ‘We invested in infrastructure for economic growth and prosperity, says President Buhari as he commissions Second Niger Bridge, others.’

“It has been a deliberate choice for our government as a tool to fight poverty, to create economic growth and employment and to open the path of prosperity for our people,” Buhari said at the virtual inuguration of three bridges, three secretariats and one road project undertaken by his administration.

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The Federal Government’s borrowing from China has grown by 209.15 per cent under the Buhari administration.

This is as total bilateral loans rose by 219.91 per cent from $1.58bn as of June 2015 to $5.07bn as of December 2022. Total borrowing from China rose from $1.39bn to $4.29bn in the period under review.

More so, the country’s total debt stock nears N80tn as Buhari concludes his tenure on May 29.

But Buhari who defended criticisms of the debt profile of his administration said, “We do not act on infrastructure by accident. It has been a deliberate choice for our government as a tool to fight poverty, to create economic growth and employment and to open the path of prosperity for our people.”

ENIGERIA NEWSPAPER