TheCable

Senate President Ahmad Lawan says the national assembly is concerned about the country’s level of borrowing.

There have been concerns about the country’s high level of borrowing.

Analysis by TheCable Index puts the country’s domestic debt stock at N18 trillion.

Federal government domestic debt stock by instrument as at September 30th, 2021#TheCableIndex pic.twitter.com/J44nvyGYmP

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Patience Oniha, director-general of the Debt Management Office (DMO), said Nigeria’s public debt is N38.01 trillion or $92.63 billion as of Q3 2021.

The Lawan-led national assembly has not declined any request for approval of loans by the executive.

Speaking with journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Lawan said the country needs to generate more revenue to reduce its borrowing.

“Nobody likes taking loans or debt whether as an individual or a country,” the senate president said.

“But what do you do when you are not generating enough? We are concerned about our level of borrowing, and the best way to reduce it is to get funds from independent sources.

“We expect that when we generate more we borrow less.”

Lawan said the national assembly under his leadership has stabilised Nigeria’s economy and polity.

“This national assembly I daresay has stabilised the Nigerian economy. Anybody that wants to challenge this statement can do so,” he said.

“I also daresay, the ninth national assembly stabilised the polity. Imagine every day we were fighting either ourselves or the executive, we know there is a price to pay.

“Mark me, some of the people saying these people [calling the national assembly names] are ignorant or mischievous because they don’t want us to succeed.”