Adewale Sanyaolu
Immedidate past Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, has proposed that Nigeria should float a -N10 trillion infrastructure bond to bridge the country’s huge budget deficit of N1.89 trillion and meet other pressing infrastructure needs
Fashola, stated this during his screening as a ministerial nominee at the Senate Chambers in the National Assembly in Abuja, yesterday.
The Senate had last April, approved the sum of N1.89 trillion as new borrowing to fund the 2019 budget deficit, while adding that additional financing of N172.47billion would be derived from privatisation proceeds and N556.02billion from loans secured for specific development projects.
President Muhammadu Buhari had said that his N8.83 trillion proposed expenditure for 2019 included grants and development partner donations amounting to N209.92 billion.
Buhari’s 2019 budget proposal was based on real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.01 percent and an inflation rate of 9.98 percent, with total projected revenue of N6.97 trillion, which is about three percent lower than the 2018 estimate of N7.17 trillion.
The government also stated that the projected deficit, at 1.33 per cent of the Gross Domestic Products, was still within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
But according to the former Minister, one sure way to have more resources at the disposal of government to meet its pressing obligations was for it to float infrastructure bond to which Nigerians can contribute to freeely. Fashola argued that this would afford the government a huge pool of resources it requires to execute capital projects for the benefit of all Nigerians.
He said in order to bring about equitable and all round development, the Federal Government should in one year or two embargo the introduction of new projects to concentrate and finish up on existing ones.
‘‘If I have my way and if it were to be my choice, that is the option I will take. I have recommended this option before and I will continue to say it. In fact, I adopted the approach when I was Governor of Lagos State and it worked. Government should in one year or two, do away with new projects in order to consolidate on existing ones.
Nigerians should learn to prioritise. We cannot have everything we want at the same time. It is simply not possible because the resources to do that are scare. For instance, if all the senators from the South East, 18 in number will make the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road their priority project, that will be excellent.
The Kano-Maiduguri road crosses about seven states, if all the 21 senators from all the states involved can come together and make it their priority project, that will also be a game changer because and that would have succeeded in fulfilling their commitment to the electorate,” he advised.
He disclosed that of the N500 billion budgets approved for his Ministry, it at peak seldom gets about N280 billion, saying no Ministry ever gets the full value of resources requested for, adding that Nigeria isn’t yet the rich nation that he knows that it would be.