Director-General
of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha, has allayed fears
of some observers that the country was already in a debt crisis.
She toned
down the fears yesterday in a chat with newsmen on the sidelines of the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group summit in Bali, Indonesia.
But Oniha
equally admitted that the nation was not generating enough revenue to fund some
critical operations.
However, the
debt office boss maintained that Nigeria was still capable of servicing her
debts.
This, she
said, federal government was doing by shoring up the revenue base by
diversifying the economy.
“Debt crisis
means you are no longer able to service your debts, which is what we are
talking about. We can’t stop talking about it, the figures are there.
“I agree
that we are not generating as much revenue as we should, but we are not in a
debt crisis as many have feared,” Ms Oniha told journalists.
She said
further that, “When you compare your revenue to your Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), it is low and we cannot run from the fact that we need to generate more
revenue.
“Generating
more revenue does not mean we should focus only on increasing production in the
Niger Delta or praying for oil prices to rise, we have to generate long-term
revenue. How do you generate that?
“You have to
enforce compliance, which is all about increasing the tax base and making sure
that those who are paying are paying the correct amount and not just paying a
small amount to escape. The option that was talked about here about raising
taxes,” she added.
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