Nigeria is struggling to raise funds from investors following poor credit ratings by two leading providers of corporate credit ratings, Moody’s and Fitch, after they downgraded the country to Category ‘B’ economy.
It was learnt that foreign creditors prefer to invest their money in G-7 securities such as the United States, Germany, France, Japan, as high inflation, interest rates scare them away from Nigeria.
While appearing before the House of Representatives to defend the Debt Management Office’s 2023 budget on Monday, Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, told the Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management that Nigeria has an issue with the new external borrowings.
Oniha disclosed that in 2021, Nigeria raised $4 billion from foreign creditors, falling short of the $6 billion it planned to raise. She also stated that the country has only been able to borrow $1.25 billion.
“The international markets are not looking for countries with our ratings –B ratings. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, as you know, turned around things in the world significantly.
“So, inflation rates are high, interest rates are high and investors are saying there are a lot of uncertainties as to what will happen. There is a threat of recession.
