The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said the Federal Government can reduce its dependence on borrowings to finance budget deficits by improving its revenue drive and prioritising expenditure.
Its Director-General, Patience Oniha, spoke during a presentation at an executive course on budgeting and fiscal responsibility organised by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission in Abuja.
In her paper entitled: “Debt Sustainability Challenges and Strategic Revenue Mobilisation Initiative”, Oniha said the country had run deficit budgets for many decades, which made borrowings from local and external sources imperative.
She advised the government to grow revenue and cut waste. She said: “A budget may be surplus, balanced or deficit. Nigeria has run deficit budgets on a consecutive basis for decades.
“The financing of the deficits through borrowing from local and external sources is the principal reason for the growth in debt stock and debt servicing. “One way to reduce budget deficits is to grow revenues; the other way is to prioritise expenditure and cut waste and leakages.”
