Mitigating Nigeria’s penchant for wasteful spending

Nigeria’s penchant for borrowing money and wasting it on frivolities surges forth in rising debts without any tangible accomplishments to show for them, which is why Nigeria’s thirst for debts has become a growing concern among economists. At present, the nation’s debts have risen by 278 percent or N4.03 trillion in the last six years. This public debt data was disclosed by the Director General, the Debt Management Office, Mrs Patience Oniha. According to the document, Nigeria is owing so much as at December 31, 2021 and that the new borrowing allocation for 2015 was N1.46 trillion which was 90 percent of N1.62 trillion budget deficit.
 
For 2021, the allocation for borrowing was N5.49 trillion which was 85 percent of N6.45 trillion budget deficit. On the source of the figures, the document avers, “2015 comprises 2015 Appropriation Act and the supplementary budget of N575 billion for the same year. The year 2021 comprises 2021 Appropriation Act and the supplementary budget of N802 billion for the same year.” The data also identified issues around the public debt level, which include fast- growing debts, high debt service to revenue ratio, and concerns around the use of proceeds from the debts.