MAN to FG: cut down on recurrent expenditure

Federal Government has been urged to slash its recurrent expenditure to arrest the nation’s rising debt profile. Making the call weekend is the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Dr Frank Jacobs. MAN President, Dr Frank Jacobs said, in a statement in Lagos said that the savings from the slash in recurrent expenditure could be channeled into sectors with multiplying revenue generation capacity like agriculture, production and manufacturing.

Jacobs said that the call became necessary because of the associated service charges and the future economic burden rising debt debt profile would exert on the nation. It will be recalled that the IMF on May 21 expressed concern over Nigeria’s capacity to repay its debt and urged the Federal Government to mobilise means of generating revenue domestically. IMF said the number of low-income economies in debt distress had increased and there was a need for Nigeria to curtail the debt.

The Fund said that the number of low-income economies that were in debt distress had risen from eight in 2014 to 15 in 2016. “Nigeria’s debt stock figure, which is 20 to 23 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP), is still quite low by any standard, but the issue is the capacity to repay the debts. So interest payment to revenue is an issue,” IMF said. Jacobs said, although the debt figure was 20 to 23 per cent of the GDP, there was the need to be cautious of the rising debt profile of the nation. “The government should look inward and cut down where necessary. This will help reduce the huge fiscal deficit which will, in turn, reduce both domestic and external borrowings and the associated service charges,” Jacobs said in a statement.