The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has called on the government to re-strategize revenue generation by shifting focus from debt financing toward equity financing among others, while The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, better known as NACCIMA urged the government to maintain a higher level of fiscal discipline.

Last week, DMO said that Nigeria’s debt stock had risen to over N46 trillion and the country's national debt has increased by more than N6 trillion since 2022 alone.

In an interview on a reputable news channel, Patience Oniha, the Director-General of DMO disclosed that Nigeria has been running budget deficits for many decades.

The government had taken out loans from multilateral and bilateral sources while continuing to issue promissory notes in order to pay its debts, even when it did not have the revenue necessary for that purpose.

She said that borrowing is an acceptable way to fund government activities, but added that it must be supported by the generation of revenue.

She added that when money borrowed was judiciously utilised to stimulate growth, revenue would be generated to offset the debt.
Oniha said: “Nigeria’s debt stock is N46.25 trillion as of the end of 2022. It includes the debt of the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory. The Federal Government is responsible for about 85% of this.

“What are the triggers and why is the debt stock growing? It is because when the debt stock is growing, the debt service also grows. The debt stock is growing because Nigeria has been running budget deficits for many decades.

‘’In good and bad times with oil prices, we have borrowed. We’ve been running budget deficits and those deficits are funded largely 85 to 95% from borrowing and that is cumulative. These are publicly available data.