Ogun govt allays residents’ concern over rising debt profile

OGUN State government, yesterday, allayed the fear of residents over the rising debt profile of the state, assuring that the state has the capacity to repay its debts.

The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Okubadejo, who gave the assurance during the 2024 budget breakdown and presentation, said there was no cause for alarm over the state's debt profile, adding that the state has not exceeded its debt limit.

Residents of the state have expressed concern over the debt profile of the state, which the Debt Management Office ( DMO) put at N270 billion.

But reacting to the concern, Okubadejo stated that the state is having an external debt of N55 billion, while the internal debt is N82 billion. He said that the 2024 budget of over N703 billion would have a significant and positive effect on the people with a reasonable performance.

Okubadejo, who is also the Chief Economic Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun, said the state had been putting its loans into good use, saying that almost 80- 90 per cent of its debts are used for financing capital projects.

He said that being economically- viable, the state has no reason not to repay its debts. The commissioner, who stated that the budget would be funded with InternallyGenerated Revenue ( IGR) estimated at N240 billion, said that IGR remained a critical part that the state would use to fund critical development. Okubadejo stressed that the state was one of those that depended less on federal allocations, saying that there was a need for the state to be economically and financially independent.

He noted that the state remained one of those with the fastest growing economy in the country, saying that its economy needs to be more robust to achieve desired goals.