Boost Revenue, Reduce Debt Dependency, IMF Urges Tinubu

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the incoming government of President-elect Bola Tinubu to take steps to increase Nigeria’s revenue base and reduce the country’s reliance on debt for funding expenditures.

The IMF’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Ari Aisen, highlighted the importance of focusing on revenue and expenditure to address Nigeria’s debt issues during a virtual forum on the Nigerian debt situation.

“How do you reduce the spending needs of the government? That should be the question.

“It is really about fiscal discipline. People should not permanently spend beyond what they generate in revenue because it becomes unsustainable.

“Eventually some people will come and ask for their money back and some will refuse to give further loans,” he said.

Experts Call for Transparency and Accountability in Fiscal Management to Address Nigeria’s Debt Challenges

Economic experts and analysts have emphasized the need for transparency, accountability, and prudent fiscal management to tackle Nigeria’s debt challenges.

Vahyala Kwaga, a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at BudgIT, emphasized the distortion between fiscal and monetary authorities and called for scrutiny of the fiscal behaviors of state governors.

“The Ways and Means is another lump sum of money that affected the economy significantly in the sense that it compounded the problem of inflation.

“A lot of these monies, according to the president, were used for infrastructure projects. Some were also given to the state governors as bailouts,” he said.

The transparency and accountability problem in the use of funds at the state level was identified as a significant concern.

Debt Management Office and Economic Experts Stress the Importance of Balancing Expenditure and Revenue

The Debt Management Office (DMO) and economic experts have underscored the significance of narrowing the gap between government expenditure and revenue to limit borrowings and effectively manage Nigeria’s debt.

Monday Usiade, Director of the Market Development Department at the DMO, highlighted the responsibility of the office to transparently manage Nigeria’s debt.

Economic experts at the American Business Council (ABC) Economic Update emphasized the need for strategies focused on consumption, investment, government expenditure, exports, and imports to address Nigeria’s debt overhang and promote economic growth and development.