Financial Expert cautions Federal, State governments against borrowing

A financial expert, Mr. Babatunde Salami, has cautioned both the federal and state governments against borrowing from the capital market for consumption.

The financial expert in an interview with VON said government at all levels should only borrow for capital projects whose capital returns would pay for the borrowed fund.

Mr. Salami, a retired director of the First Bank Nigeria Limited, warned that if all economic indices go bad, the living standard of the people would be drastically affected.

The financial expert therefore canvassed for diversification of all the sectors of the economy.

On the rate of inflation in the market, Mr. Salami explained that government could not ensure price control mechanism on goods that are not produced locally, hence the need to discourage importation of goods and services.

He however stressed the need to invest and encourage Nigerians to go into productive sectors by providing necessary incentives that would make the sectors attractive to them.

Hauwa Abu