Nigeria must reduce debt reliance, says Edun

Edun

Nigeria must reduce its dependence on borrowing and build a stronger, more reliable domestic revenue base to stabilise its finances and fund development sustainably, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said.

Edun spoke on Tuesday at the management retreat of the Nigerian Revenue Service in Abuja, warning that the global financial environment had become increasingly hostile to developing economies, making debt-driven financing more costly and less viable.

“And of course, we need to reduce our dependence on debt. And so, revenue mobilisation within this context is a developmental imperative,” Edun said.

He noted that the world was retreating from multilateral cooperation, with countries prioritising domestic interests and scaling back cross-border financial support. This shift has left poorer and developing countries facing an unfavourable balance between what they receive from abroad and what they pay out in debt service. Punch