Bullion
Keywords
External Debt, Bankruptcy, Debt Management, National Sovereignty, Fiscal Management
Abstract
The imperative of public borrowing to finance development, combat natural or artificial disasters, and for other reasons is incontrovertible. The diverse traumatic experience of debt-victim nations: Spain, Mexico, Egypt, Venezuela, et cetera, which narrowly escaped total loss of national sovereignty to foreign lenders, due to debt-induced bankruptcy, have been xr-ayed by literature: Magaji (2000) and Bature (2015), among others. The objectives of this paper are to examine the situation of Nigeria, vis-à-vis the nations which travelled the path of Nigeria's current adventure; and to proffer policy antidotes for averting the highly probable cataclysm which unsustainable external debt might precipitate, particularly against the backdrop of prevailing public apprehension. Adopting expository analytical methodology, the paper concluded that external borrowing is necessary in highly inevitable circumstances, matched with debt management profundity, in order to avert an experience similar to aforementioned victim-countries. Accordingly, it was recommended that Nigeria should strengthen the existing fiscal management capacity for enhanced internal revenue generation; while considering only reproductive borrowing for effective debt restraint
Publication Title
CBN Bullion
Issue
3
Volume
45
First Page
44
Last Page
59
Recommended Citation
Mahmud, Umar E. and Ogwuzebe, Yusuf A.
(2021)
"Contemporary Issues in Nigeria's External Debt and Implications for National Sovereignty,"
Bullion: Vol. 45:
No.
3, Article 4.
Available at:
https://dc.cbn.gov.ng/bullion/vol45/iss3/4