Worry less about FG’s borrowings —Minister

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba has asked Nigerians not to panic about Federal Government’s borrowings, insisting that the loans would ultimately benefit the people, since they were expended on productive ventures.

He said loans were not more than three percent interest rate with10 and 20 years moratorium in some cases.

After inspecting the extent of work on 7.5km Aku-Lejja-Nsukka Rural Road Project in Enugu State, Agba said: “A lot of people talk about borrowing. You need to understand the terms and conditions for loans we take and what they are being used for. It is only bad when you borrow for consumption. When you borrow for something that is productive, you eventually benefit. The interest rate we are paying is not up to three percent…

“We are spending more trying to build infrastructure, to connect the rural roads to urban roads. We spend money on road construction across the country. If we do not develop rail infrastructure, our roads will continue to fail for carrying heavy duty vehicles…”

He said Federal Government approved N34b for construction of  377 rural roads in 266 communities in the country and another N60b for rehabilitation of major highways and bridges so as to connect different parts of the country.

Earlier, the people of Lejja had showered praises on President Buhari for road construction, stressing that it was the first time the community would witness tarred road in the over 2000 years of its existence.