Nigeria To Reduce Domestic Borrowing – Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the federal government  will reduce domestic borrowing from N1.36 trillion in 2010 to N727 billion this year. The government, she added, would also set aside a sinking fund to reduce the country’s total debt stock.
The minister said the country had taken the path of fiscal consolidation, upon which Nigeria is expected to cut its fiscal deficit to 2.17 per cent this year, from 2.96 per cent in 2011.
In her address at the 31st Meeting of the Convergence Council of Ministers and Governors of Central Banks of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) in Abuja yesterday, Okonjo-Iweala explained that Nigeria had intensified efforts to reduce its iscal deficit in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
She said,“the path of fiscal consolidation, upon which we have embarked, is expected to bring our fiscal deficit down to 2.17 per cent this year, from 2.96 per cent in 2011. We are reducing the flow of domestic borrowing from N1.36 trillion in 2010 to N727 billion this year, while also setting aside a sinking fund to reduce our total debt stock”.
Okonjo-Iweala added that government had also embarked on greater efficiency in the management of its resources, which according to her, had raised foreign reserves from US$32.6 billion at the end of 2011 to about US$44.6 billion, while Excess Crude Account (ECA) balance had improved from $4.57 billion in August 2011 to about $9 billion.