President Bola Tinubu’s administration has said that it is not discussing debt forgiveness with China, stating that Beijing is willing to lend Nigeria more money and invest more in the economy.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Yusuf Tuggar when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
Before now, Nigeria has been pushing proposals for debt forgiveness at the United Nations General Assembly for some years but this hasn’t been achieved.
At the recent 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, President Bola Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, called for reform of the international financial system to include “comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development”.
Also, 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).
Meanwhile, when asked if Nigeria was in talks with China for debt relief considering that President Tinubu met with President Xi Jinping recently, the minister said that was not the case.
He said China was even willing to lend Nigeria more money and invest more in the country’s economy.
Tuggar said, “No, that is not what we are discussing with China. And when it comes to the issue of debt, look at the debt-to-GDP ratio of Nigeria, we are not even among the critically indebted nations.
“When you talk about the debt of a developing country, Nigeria is not in that sort of precarious situation.
“As a matter of fact, China is prepared to lend more, China is prepared to invest more in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure development and other things,” he said.
He added that Nigeria made presentations at the UN, not only for self-interest, adding that Nigeria also speaks for Africa, the global South, and the developing countries.