Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has stated that she is still tackling the 50 questions ‘exam’ given to her by the House Committee on Finance.
“There is absolutely no situation (on the issue with the House of Representatives), you know I am taking exams. They have given me exams and I am sitting it and at some point we have to come out of the exam room. Some of the questions are very weighty and you know some of us need a bit of time to be able to tackle them,” she said.
Iweala who spoke to State House correspondents concerning the state of the Nation’s debt said the country’s external debt stood at only 2% of total debt.
She said, “External debt is only two per cent of what we owe and 98 per cent domestic debt. We want to reduce that so that the private sector can have a chance to borrow so that interest rate can come down.
“From 2011 till now, we have gone from about N852bn in borrowing down to N571bn. It is a very big reduction.
“So I beg to differ from those who say we are piling debt. We actually have very good strategy. In addition, for the first time ever, we actually retired N75bn in bond last year.”
The minister further disclosed that the Debt Management Office was adjudicated as the best in Africa.
“We are here to talk about the wonderful thing that has happened in the Nigerian economy, which is that a partner is saying we have one of the best Debt Management Offices in Africa; that we should now be advising other countries even beyond Africa.”