Emir Sanusi rubbishes Buhari's economic plan

*Muhammadu Sanusi ll said the current monetary model would bring about issue for the nation

*He faulted Nigeria's move to acquire loan from China

*The emir said Nigeria has little to benefit from the deal

Emir Sanusi

Muhammadu Sanusi ll who is the Emir of Kano has said the President Muhammadu Buhari government's monetary model would not work out as thought, as it will acquire or incur more debt.

The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria talked at the Kaduna State Economic Summit in Kaduna on Wednesday, April 6, 2017 on the topic: ‘Promoting investments in the midst of economic challenges’

He said China would profit more from the arrangement while the light rail plan would be of no economic importance.

The Emir of Kano said: “The Federal Government of Nigeria is spending 66 per cent of its revenues on interests on debts, which means only 34 per cent of revenues is available for capital and recurrent expenditures.

“That model cannot work. If you look at the 2017 budget of the Federal Government, I sometimes wonder what Nigerian economists are doing?

“In the 2017 budget presented by the Federal Government, the amount earmarked for debt servicing is in excess of the entire non-oil revenue of the Federal Government, but that is not the problem. The problem is that it is a budget that is even going for more debts.

“Growth can only come from investments. It cannot come from consumption. It cannot come from government balance sheet. It cannot come from borrowing because you cannot borrow unsustainably.

“We have governors; they go to China and spend one month on a tour and what do they come back with, MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on debts.

“China will lend you $1.8bn to build light rail. This light rail will be done by the rail workers from China. The trains will come from China. The engines will come from China. The labour comes from China. The driver is Chinese.

“At the end of the day, what do you benefit from it? Your citizen will ride on a train and when you ride on a train, in northern Nigeria, in a state like Kano or Katsina, where are you going to? You are not going to an industrial estate to work.

“You are not going to school? You are not going to the farm. You borrow money from China to invest in trains so that your citizens can ride on them and go for weddings and naming ceremonies.”