Professor Pat Utpmi, a professor of political economy and founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership has described the recently passed 2023 budget as one of debt service that defeats any sensible human reasoning.
The renowned economist said the bhdget will lead to massive inflation, loss of jobs and collapse of exchange rate, adding that a projected figure of N9trillion and expenditure of N21trillion goes against sensible economics and normal reasoning.
Speaking on Channel Television ‘Politics Today,’ Wednesday, Utomi noted that the budget makes no sense to anyone who understands economics as it is simply unsustainable., especially in a global economy where many are trying to curb inflation, increase jobs and bring down the exchange rate, in a bid to make life easier for its citizens; tBuhari’s government is doing the opposite.
“ This budget will lead to loss of jobs, massive inflation, and collapse of the exchange rate. The reasons are very simple; this is a budget of debt service.
“What is the goal of the Buhari administration? He wants to create 200million jobs in ten years and I ask: can the budget create jobs?
“They project revenue of N9trillion and expenditure of N21trillion, you are already in an unsustainable debt situation. It doesn’t make sense
“If it were a siyuation where people are rushing to invest in Nigeria, you would say revenues from taxes that flow in would accelerate production. There is no optimal rate of trying to collect taxes when people don’t invest.
“Nigeria altready suffers from a problem, a situation described by Forbe’s Magazine in 2019 as “Africa’s money losing machine.’ Typically, nobody wants to invest when money has been leaving Nigeria,” he said.
Utomi blamed the Buhari administration for the country’s economic woes, noting that part of the problem was allowing the apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria to handle both the fiscal and monetary policies/
“The biggest problem of the government is ways and means from the CBN and currently 2,000 per cent in printed money from the CBN without equivalent value.
“The problem is with the civil service and this is why it is important to rebuild the civil service/”You have to bring the momentum to a halt. Government is too bloated. We are spending all these money on recurrent expenditure. It is much more than sacking people. Do you know how many civil servants travel with the president on his foreign trips? He asked.