Buhari ended tenure with N77trn debt, rising inflation, low economic growth – Civic group, BudgIT

A leading civic organisation, BudgIT, has lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration plunged Nigeria into high debt, increasing inflation and low economic growth.

BudgIT made this known in a report titled ‘The economic legacy of the Buhari Administration.’

The organisation, in the detailed economic scorecard of Buhari’s government, said that, “According to the budget office, between 2016 and 2022, the Buhari-led administration raised total revenues of N26.67 trillion and expended N60.64 trillion, leaving a deficit of N33.97 trillion.

“The gaping hole was financed with federal government’s domestic debt, which rose from N8.84 trillion as of December 2015 to N44.91 trillion as of June 2023, while external debt rose from $7.35 billion in December 2015 to $37.2 billion in June 2023.

“This excludes support provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), amounting to N25 trillion.

“Ultimately, President Buhari moved Nigeria’s debt profile from N42 trillion to N77 trillion.

“This has had attendant effects on debt servicing, which rose from N1.06 trillion in 2015 to N5.24 trillion as of 2022.

“In fact, under President Buhari’s administration, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio grew from 29 percent to 96 percent.”

The group also criticized the apex bank over its monetary policies that aggravated people’s hardship.

It noted that, “During the administration of President Buhari, the CBN extended beyond its monetary policy remit, having a firm grip on fiscal policy with its outsized role.

“In fact, CBN policies increased the money supply from N18 trillion in 2015 to N55 trillion in 2023.

“While it provided unrestrained liquidity to the federal government, the apex bank abandoned its primary mandate of price stability.

“It continued to apply blunt tools by raising the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 12.5 percent in 2015 to 18 percent in April 2023.

“This did not taper the inflation rate, which has risen to 22.5 percent, while food inflation galloped to 24 percent as of April 2023.

“Food inflation has continued to rise despite over N800 billion spent by the CBN on the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP), which has been touted to have repayment challenges.

“Unemployment rose from 10.4 percent in 2015 to 33.4 percent in 2020 under President Buhari’s watch as the clumsy exchange rate management, with a wide difference between the official and parallel market rates, made it difficult for businesses to thrive.

“Buhari also prevaricated on the subsidy removal, which his administration spent at least N10 trillion to service.

“While Buhari’s government planned to have the subsidy removed as the price of crude rose, it failed to act and continued a wasteful venture that only required firm commitment to implement.

“Also, Nigeria’s oil production slipped below one million barrels per day at a time when oil economies skyrocketed to an unprecedented fortune.

“The attendant effect is that the non-oil share of public revenues grew rapidly from 44.6 percent in 2015 to 59.4 percent in 2022.

“However, Nigeria’s spending was untargeted as several BudgIT analysis continued to show that the Nigerian budget performed below par, with agencies spending public funds without the mandate to do so, foreclosing any chances of fiscal consolidation.”