ABUJA— FINANCE Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has alleged threats to her life ostensibly on account of government’s economic reforms. But she says she is not going to succumb to the threats or abandon the reforms. Besides, the minister wants the Paris Club to change its rules and allow Nigeria pay off some of its small debts.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, in an interview in Abuja, said some people hurt by government’s economic reforms had launched a series of attacks on her, including threat to her life, hostility, blackmail and spurious attacks.
Said she: “They have been attacking members of the economic team one by one, looking for one thing or the other.
It is either a procedural —you didn’t quite do this or you didn’t quite do that. And all they are trying to do is to seek to destabilise us from doing the job. You know, if they can keep you busy answering spurious allegations, running around, instead of focusing on your job, that is what they want and they are not going to succeed.
“I am focused completely, 100 per cent on my job and that is what I am going to be doing. I tell you what, Nigerians should look out for these people. They should be put to shame. If they have anything in the allegations, they should say it openly.
“Anyone who has anything against me should come out in the open and say it. That is my style, very open. Nothing to hide. There has never been anything to hide and never would be. You can trace everyone of my actions. I understand this, that this is a reform process, people feel hurt and threatened. I understand this, that people will lash out anyway, at anyone they feel is doing this to them.
But when it comes to generating a very spurious thing and trying to put it in the public domain, that is when you have to speak out. You know, I have received two threats to my life, very credible. So, you get threats, you get subtle blackmail, you have got hostility and then you have got using access to the press to invent false stories.
“All through these, I kept smiling because that is how I feel. We kept working because we now see that the reform is working and that is the bottom-line. I think Nigerians know it. A number of people come up to me, even in the village. The other day, I was in the village, it was amazing, simply amazing. I think they heard something on radio, and when they came to see me they said “nisike,” they said I should continue to work with the people I was working with.
“They said we should do more so that light can be steadier. They said sometimes, light comes at 9 p.m. when they are sleeping. Before, it never used to come, that is what they said. That is practical talk. I was encouraged. Each time I want to receive inspiration, I go to the village. That is where the real people are.
“When I came back, I said God, thank you because something is happening and we must not allow the negative sentiments manifesting themselves here carry the day in this country. We might have another chance and Nigerians have to realise that we may not.”
The minister emphasized that the reform was not only on course but yielding results, beyond expected targets, as according to her, inflation rate was now falling, foreign reserves built up to over $12 billion and a stable exchange rate in the last few months.
“In the beginning when we started the reform, some people thought it was not serious and that it would soon be forgotten, but in this case we stuck to it and it is now working. Now that it is working, those who are hurt are trying to lash out at us,” she said.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said the June-July inflation rate fell to 14 per cent and with a continued tight fiscal policy, the nation had a strong chance of achieving a low double-digit inflation rate of between 10-11 per cent. “The second point is that low inflation rate will help to bring down interest rate. You know bankers never want to lend below the inflation rate because it will be eroding the value of money they have lent to you. If you bring the rate of inflation down, there will be no excuse for them not to bring the interest rate down. This is very important to the economy and we are achieving it.
“Then go to our reserves. We were losing reserves last year. This year, it has completely turned around. And we have built up reserves to $12.4 billion. We had targeted reserves to be equivalent of six months of import. The $12.4 billion is about nine months of import. So, we have even exceeded the target. That is fantastic,” she explained.
The minister also said that in spite of the delay in the implementation of the budget at the beginning of the year due to the late passage of the Appropriation Bill, N200 billion (more than 50 per cent of the fiscal budget) had been released. “Unlike in past years, no government ministry or agency could complain of non-release of capital vote,” she said, adding that money was now available for capital development and that all projects that were budgeted could be financed accordingly.
Tasks Paris Club on small debts
And speaking at the signing of the fourth bilateral debt consolidation agreement with Finland, in Abuja on the $3.053 million owed that country, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala asked the Paris Club to change its rules and allow Nigeria pay off some of its small debts. The club’s rules do not allow a debtor nation to pay off its debt even if the nation has the money and wants to pay the debt at once.
Her words: “I would like to implore the Paris Club to act in cases like outside of their rules so that the Finnish government can allow us to completely pay up this debt at a go. The amount is not a large amount and it is strange to be rescheduling an amount like $3 million over a period of 18 months, at 5.3 per cent.
“I know that the Finish government was very supportive. At a point we were talking with them, the dialogue was excellent. And they would like to do something but the rules of the Paris Club do not allow the debt to be paid off immediately. I am appealing to the Paris Club that when we have a small amount where it is not even worth the administrative cost of the debt service, both on the Nigeria side and the Finnish side to have us repaying this over a long period of time. We would like you to join us in the campaign to the Paris Club that some of its rules have to be looked at. Because they are very constraining for developing countries. It is like they are locking you in this debts even when you want to pay it all, they say no, that every country that is a member must follow the rules.
“We strongly implore the Paris Club, we want this to be changed and we want to pay this small amount off so that we can avoid long rescheduled payment which can double what you had to pay in the end.”
