Poverty would not have been the biggest theme for Nigeria if the country had followed in the footsteps of emerging economies that have now become the toast of foreign investors, said leading economist Ayo Teriba on Wednesday.
“Nigeria has managed to get the world to make the discussions about it a matter of low government income and high national debt,” said Teriba, CEO of Lagos-based Economic Associates, at its quarterly Nigerian Outlook conference in Lagos.
Countries like India, Saudi Arabia, and more recently Ethiopia, have opened up their economies to foreign capital via unbundling some national assets or securitising them.
Instead, Teriba advised that asset-rich Nigeria takes advantage of the availability of liquidity globally to build infrastructures and boost economy rather than continued borrowing that costs much to repay.
“When you have income shortfall it is not time to borrow more,” Teriba said.
Teriba’s remark comes amid global concerns that Nigeria-named world poverty capital-will face a heavy burden of increased borrowings from both home and abroad.
Both the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and World Bank have expressed concerns about the country’s debt status, while the latter predicted increased poverty levels by 2030 if Nigeria doesn’t reform.
Meanwhile, Nigeria plans a $3bn Eurobond that would plug budget deficit and help create infrastructure. The debt, though cheap, is subject to risks emanating from currency devaluation, experts say.
