Following the recent move by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to borrow the sum of N1.767tn, which is equivalent to $2.209bn as part of the external borrowing plan in the 2024 appropriation bill, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, while speaking on Channels Television, said, Government needs to borrow more money and borrow property.
Speaking on the need for good capital injection into the economy, Ibrahim said that borrowed money should be used for infrastructural developments that will open up the economy, stating that the Nigerian economy is converging with a lot of complexities that hinder development.
“The key issue here is that government should borrow sufficiently to the independent economic variables such as employment and security index that impact on the economy”
According to Ibrahim, Nigeria should not have a 50 percent debt-to-GDP ratio as a developing country, whereas in England, debt-to-GDP ratio is 35 percent, 123 percent in America, and 46 percent in China.
Using Dubai as a case study, he said, – with 12 million people, 3 million indigenes and a loan of $168bn Dubai keeps developing. As the oil is drying away in Dubai, they switched to tourism, innovation in information technology with AI. Today, everybody wants to go to Dubai. “Where did Dubai get the money from?
“Dubai got the money from borrowing $168bn and used it for infrastructural development, in such a way that the amount of Dollars they earn from the number of people going to Dubai today is enormous, and they are paying back – $20bn every other year.”
“If you borrow and develop your infrastructure, then you are better off.”
The Senator firmly stood his ground that Nigeria cannot run away from borrowing and advised that Tinubu needs to borrow “Good money”, referring to the $2,209bn loan move as “lunch money” for a country like Nigeria.
According to him ‘good money’ is anything from $50bn. He also added that CBN can launch diaspora bonds to raise this money.
Acknowledging the fact that borrowed funds have in the past been mismanaged, especially in the past administration before Tinubu, he recommended public execution for anyone that mismanages funds meant projects.
