Nigeria: DMO And the Country's Rising Debt Profile

Daily Independent

22 May 2011

Nigeria: DMO And the Country's Rising Debt Profile

editorial

We refuse to be convinced by the arguments recently put forward by the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo that there was nothing to worry about Nigeria's current debt profile given that it is still within sustainable limits. In his speech at the opening of DMO's Debt Sustainability Analysis workshop, Dr. Nwankwo had argued that the country's total debt stock put at $5.227 billion (external) and N4.869 trillion (domestic) as at March this year, was still within the conservative debt to GDP ratio of 25%, which it put for itself as against the global acceptable debt to GDP ratio of 40%.

We note that the DMO was created essentially to ensure judicious sourcing and application of Nigeria's national debt. However, its failure is evident in the steady rise in the country's domestic and external debts within the years of its existence without commensurate impact in the quality of lives of the citizens for who these debts have been incurred. Or can anybody point to any single project directly financed from any of these loans? No matter how much the DMO tries, it cannot convince Nigerians on the reasons for the country's burgeoning debt profile, since we fail to see in concrete terms what these monies have been used for. Have they been committed to any constructive programme-based projects capable of helping in liquidating the loans in future?