By Adeola Badru

An international investment and business consultant, Dr. Vincent Nwani has warned the Federal Government against adding more debt to the current N24.3trillion foreign debt, urging the president to take proactive measures to reduce the current debt profile.

Nigerian lady with the country’s flag

The economic expert who spoke at the FCMB south-west region media parley tagged; ‘Nigeria in 2019: Low Growth versus Risking Risks’ said the national GDP which is at 2.5 at the moment is too weak for the development of the country.

He, however, averred that as an expert, he knew borrowing for developmental projects was never a crime but, not feeling the effect of the borrowing on the masses is the concern of the economic experts in the country.

ICA clamours for integrity in managing credit for economic growth(Opens in a new browser tab)

According to him, Nigerian is feeling the effect of the world currency crashes and the global trade growth which is pending at 0.5 percent in the first quarter of the year.

He blamed sleepy economic performance of the country on the challenges of insecurity facing the country, poor policies of the government, and poor tax collection in Nigeria. He said: “in 2015, our external debt was N12. 1 trillion but before the end of 2018, it rose to N24.3 trillion. Though, I know it is never a crime to borrow money, but you must know what you are doing with the money you are borrowing.”

Vanguard