Economy: Atiku Challenges FG On Rising Debt
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has alerted the federal government on the heightening debts, saying it is a recipe for macroeconomic instability.
As contained in a statement on Tuesday, Atiku alleged that the economy is in more crisis than the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government is ready to acknowledge.
This comes as the National Bureau of Statistics last week, released the GDP figures for Q2 2022.
According to Atiku, the government has been unreasonably upbeat about the reported growth rate of 3.4%.
“The citizens’ level of misery hasn’t changed, and the reasons are obvious: first, the key sectors of the economy, notably agriculture, oil and gas (the country’s cash cow) and manufacturing (that contributes to jobs), are either growing slowly or declining, he stated.
Continuing, the statement read: “Second, unabated are rising commodity prices occasioned by high energy and transportation costs (and aggravated by the disorderliness in the forex market).
“Also, debt levels continue to rise while the fiscal capacity to service its debts is declining. All these are enough to erase the perceived gains from output growth.
“Having run out of ideas, it appears that our unprecedented level of indebtedness is whetting the government’s appetite for more debt. This is a recipe for macroeconomic instability.
“We challenge the National Bureau of Statistics to share with the public their recent statistics on poverty, unemployment and commodity prices — the reality of which will leave no hope for the common man.
“Like I have said before, increasing debts will never be a solution to our indebtedness. My government, if elected, will halt the rate of debt accumulation and instead focus on private-public partnerships in financing development.
“Also is the consideration of a government of national unity that will douse the temperature, unite Nigerians and pave the way for improved security. Improved security allows for investments and, therefore, an improved economy. Also targeted tax rebates to attract foreign and local investments, amongst other proactive measures to attract investments to grow the economy.” he said.
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