How rising interest rates increased debt burden, capital flow of developing nations — Finance Minister

The Nigerian Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun has explained how rising interest rates affected the debt burden and capital flow of developing nations.

Speaking after being appointed as the Chairman of the African Governors’ Forum of the World Bank at the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Marrakech, Morocco, Edun called for continued multilateral cooperation to tackle debt challenges.

The Minister harped on the importance of strengthening global financial safety in order to serve the niche of the most vulnerable, whether it be a country or an individual who is needy and worthy of help.

According to him, “In terms of debt restructuring, what you do is look for opportunities to improve the condition. The world we are in is a world of high-interest rates, and debt is becoming more unaffordable, so if you have cheap financing, you better hold on to it as long as you can and you are comfortably servicing it, and in a case where you can’t, you need to find the money to pay it down or make sure that it is not a burden.”

He also talked about Nigeria’s strategic positioning to attract investment.

“The narrative is that with the bold and courageous steps that Nigeria has taken, we are now at the forefront and almost number one on people’s lists when they want to look at where to invest.”