TUESDAY 12^th October, 2021: The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has urged the government of the country to put effective measures in place to decisively tackle the challenges of debt in the country.

Dr. Adesina who said this on Monday during the Mid-Term Ministerial Performance Review Retreat, which was held both virtually and physically at the Presidential Villa stated that poor foreign exchange policies and debt service costs were some of the major setbacks affecting the country's economic growth.

He stated that it was imperative to fix the economic structure of the country, adding that, "Nigeria must decisively tackle its debt challenges. The issue is not about the debt to GDP ratio as Nigeria’s Debt to GDP ratio at 35 per cent is actually still moderate.

“The big issue is how to service the debt and what that means for resources for domestic investments needed to spur faster economic growth.

“To have an economic resurgence, we need to fix the structure of the economy and address some basic fundamentals. Nigeria’s challenge is revenue concentration.”

He went on to ask for the removal of structural bottlenecks restricting productivity and revenue-earning potential.

The AfDB president further advised that the government should ensure that productivity is boosted in the non-oil sector with the right fiscal and macroeconomic policies.