The International Monetary Fund has encouraged the incoming administration led by Sen. Bola Tinubu to broaden the nation's source of income.
Ari Aisen, the resident representative for the IMF's Nigeria office, made this statement at a virtual discussion on Nigeria's debt position. He also counseled the next administration to reduce its reliance on debt to pay for expenses significantly.
Aisen contends that revenue and spending should be the main areas of focus in order to address Nigeria's debt problems. He said that the Federal Government was spending more than it was actually bringing in through taxes, which is why the debt issue had become worse.
“How do you reduce the spending needs of the government? That should be the question. It is really about fiscal discipline. People should not permanently spend beyond what they generate in revenue because it becomes unsustainable. Eventually, some people will come and ask for their money back and some will refuse to give further loans,” he said.
Vahyala Kwaga, a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the Nigerian startup BudgIT, which uses technology to deliver social advocacy, also spoke and encouraged the next administration to redress the imbalance between the fiscal and monetary authorities. Kwaga claims that a lot of money is being put into the economy and that this has an effect.
“The Ways and Means is another lump sum of money that affected the economy significantly in the sense that it compounded the problem of inflation. A lot of these monies, according to the president, were used for infrastructure projects. Some were also given to the state governors as bailouts,” he said.
Kwaga claims that a lot of money is being put into the economy and that this has an effect. "The Ways and Means is another lump sum of money that affected the economy significantly in the sense that it compounded the problem of inflation,” he said.
“A lot of these monies, according to the president, were used for infrastructure projects. Some were also given to the state governors as bailouts,” he added, urging Nigerians to focus their attention on the state governors' financial practices as well.