The Federal Government has stated that China is willing to lend Nigeria more money and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, who disclosed this while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, also sai Nigeria was not among the critically indebted countries, hence it was not discussing debt forgiveness with its major lender, China.
According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s external debt stock as of March 2024 was N56trn ($42bn) while domestic debt stood at N65trn ($46.29).
China is one of Nigeria’s top lenders.
At the recent 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, President Bola Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, pushed for reform of the international financial system to include “comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development”.
However, when asked if Nigeria was in talks with China about debt relief after President Tinubu recently met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the minister stated that this was not the case.
He claimed that China was willing to lend Nigeria more money and invest more in the country’s economy.
Tuggar responded, “That is not what we are discussing with China. And when it comes to debt, consider Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio; we are not even among the critically indebted nations.
“When it comes to a developing country’s debt, Nigeria is not in a precarious situation.
“As a matter of fact, China is willing to lend more and invest more in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure development and other projects,” he stated.
He stated that Nigeria made presentations at the UN not only for its own benefit, but also to represent Africa, the global South, and developing countries.