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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Am. Yusuf Tuggar, said on Sunday Nigeria would not push for debt forgiveness from China, its biggest lender.
Tuggar, appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program, said the Federal Government would be willing to take new loans from major Asian countries.
This, he said, is based on the country’s low debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio which places the country among the less indebted countries in the world and Beijing’s willingness to borrow more money from Nigeria and invest more in economics. economy.
Ripples Nigeria reports that China is Nigeria’s largest creditor. Nigeria’s bilateral debt obligations as of March 31 to the Asian country stood at $5.045 billion, according to the latest data released by the Nigerian Debt Management Office (DMO).
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s debt to reach N121tr in Q1 2024 – DMO
When asked if Nigeria was in talks with Beijing for debt relief after President Bola Tinubu met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping recently, the minister said that was not the case.
Tuggar said: “No, that’s not what we discussed with China. And when it comes to debt issues, look at Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio, we are not even among the countries that have huge debts.
“When you talk about developing country debt, Nigeria is not in such a precarious situation. In fact, China is ready to provide more loans, China is ready to invest more in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure development and other things.”
President Tinubu in his address to world leaders during the General Debate at the just concluded 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the United States discussed comprehensive debt forgiveness from creditors and multilateral financial institutions for Nigeria and other developing countries.
By: Babajide Okeowo
The post Nigeria not pushing for debt forgiveness, eyeing new loans from China – Tuggar appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top News from Ripples Nigeria.
