2016 Budget A Booby Trap - PDP

The People's Democratic Party, PDP has described the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC's plan to borrow N1.84 trillion in the 2016 fiscal year as a ploy to pay off its huge campaign debt and fund its political war chest.

According to the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh who spoke with pressmen in Abuja on Tuesday, the planned N1.84 trillion naira loan translates to borrowing N5b daily, beginning from January 1 to December 31, 2016.

His words ;
“Some people may be wondering why we raised an alarm about the budget. The reason is simple. When we analysed the budget, we discovered it is a misshapen attempt at a Keynesian economics of applying deficit spending to stimulate growth even when studies have proven that GDP growth rates decrease by over 50 per cent when debt goes from low or moderate to high. But then we know the borrowing here is to pay huge campaign debt and fund a political war chest.

“By every standard, this budget is a booby trap against the nation. When you break down the proposed N1.84 trillion borrowing, you discover that it amounts to borrowing N5 billion everyday for the 365 days in 2016. The questions are: for what specific projects are they borrowing N5 billion per day and how do they intend to pay back?

“The President should explain to Nigerians how they intend to payback the loan. Is it by continuous borrowing to service the interests, and does he intend to accumulate colossal debt for future generations of Nigerians?

“The truth is that this administration cannot justify this proposal. There is no known economy in the world where you can justify borrowing N1.84 trillion without specific projects and precise repayment outline. This is worse still in an oil-driven, mono-economy at a time crude oil is selling at $30 per barrel and is speculated to go down to about $20 or even lower in the next one year. The idea can only come when you diversify the economy and boost production capacity in manufacturing and other critical sectors, a direction,which the budget clearly failed to provide .“

While asking President Buhari to explain to the nation why his N6.08 trillion 2016 budget should not be considered a fraud, Metuh challenged the Federal Government to a public debate on the budget.