Finance Minister defends borrowings as only way out of recession

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has launched a staunch defence over incessant borrowings by the Federal Government, noting that it 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.”

READ ALSO: SEC says rising debt a threat, Finance Minister confirms borrowing will continue

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.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now