Jimoh Ibrahim: Nigeria can repay debts within 90 days
…taps into expertise for strategic solution
The Senator-elect representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim, believes that Nigeria has the potential to repay its debts to other countries within a span of 90 days, provided the government is willing to tap into his expertise.
According to Jimoh Ibrahim, the nation’s debts of N77trillion shouldn’t be a cause for worry considering the current debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of less than 31 percent.
He said “I can give you a strategy that will help pay back all of Nigeria’s debt in 90 days. Our current debt shouldn’t be a big problem or source of worry for President Bola Tinubu. What is the debt ratio to the GDP of a country? Nigeria’s is currently around 31 percent, which means we have a window of about 70 percent to borrow more money.”
Jimoh Ibrahim cited the borrowing policy implemented in Dubai and argued that Nigeria is currently wasting its time not borrowing more money from creditors.
“Nigeria is wasting its time not borrowing more money. Dubai is owning $167billion and has a population of 12 million and 3 million indigenous people, and they borrowed $167billion. They developed a plan to boost their infrastructure facilities and today everything is fine in Dubai whilst paying their debts back with ease.”
He further explained his proposed solution, suggesting a loan of $100billion from five EXIM bank consortiums with a repayment plan for forty years and a ten-year moratorium.
He said:”What you need to do is call together about five EXIM banks including China’s, and take a loan of about five times what we are owing currently. Do a bridge gap financing and then pay off what you owe and have a surplus. Prepare a re-payment program for forty years and then have an honorarium period of ten years, and you are out of the debt. With these, you can negotiate with the creditor for a 30 percent discount.”
Jimoh Ibrahim also emphasised the need to put Nigeria’s house in order and develop a well-defined roadmap for economic diversification within the next decade. He believes that Nigeria has the potential to generate substantial revenue from sources beyond oil.
“Within that period, put your house in order and then you have money to develop your economy. How much can we make from oil revenue, get an action plan on how to diversify the economy and within ten years we could have a holistic well-defined road map financially,” he added.
