The Peoples Democratic Party has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has mortgaged the country to foreign creditors.
The opposition party said this following comments that the Chairman of President Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), Dr. Doyin Salami, said that the debt service-to-revenue ratio at 97.7 per cent between January to May 2021, was unsustainable.
Salami who was reacting to a fresh loan of $4.179 billion ($4.054 billion and $125 million) and £710 million that the president was seeking approval for lamented that the debts were unsustainable.
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On Wednesday, the Debt Management Office said that the country’s debt had urged to N35.465trn as of June 30 which is 7.75 per cent up from the N32.916trn on December 31, 2020.
Salami said Nigeria’s debt stock is estimated to hit about N54trn when Ways and Means as well as the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria liabilities and projected fiscal deficit for 2021 are considered.
“The @OfficialAPCNg have finally mortgaged our national patrimony to foreign interests,” said PDP in a tweet on Thursday.
PDP continued, “Dr. Salami’s revelation only validates apprehensions that President @MBuhari, who is still borrowing more money, is completely disconnected from his economic team, while the corrupt cabal in his Presidency has taken advantage of the situation to pillage the vaults.
“It is distressing that despite the already terrifying situation, and with the further depreciation of our naira to N570 to a dollar, President @MBuhari is moving to take a fresh N2.66 trillion ($4 billion and €710 million) external loan, for very opaque purposes.
“More frightening is the revelation by EAC that the nation’s debt stock might soon hit N45 trillion.”