Borrowing is Nigeria’s only way out of recession, Minister insists

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has said borrowing by the federal government to build infrastructure was the only way to lift the country out of recession.

Ahmed made this claim on Friday during the Public Presentation and Breakdown of the 2022 Appropriation Bill in Abuja.

The Minister stated that “Having witnessed two consecutive recessions, we have had to spend our way out of the recession which contributed significantly to the growth of our public debts.

“It is unlikely that our recovery from these recessions would have been as fast without the sustained government expenditure funded partly by debt.”

She further claimed that the borrowings had helped the government in providing infrastructure to boost the economy.

“Borrowings are essential to enable us to deploy necessary capital expenditure and invest in human capital development.

“To compound matters, the country has technically been at war, with the pervasive security challenges across the nation,” the minister added.

“This has necessitated massive expenditures on security equipment and operations, contributing to the fiscal deficit; Defence and Security sector accounts for 22% of the 2022 budget!,” Ahmed said.