The Nigeria Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday, stated that the country is expected to earn N90 billion or $219 million in 2022 from the sale of power assets.
She said this fund will be used to help finance the 2022 budget while addressing journalists after a weekly cabinet meeting.
The National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) is the government vehicle that owns several power generation plants in the country.
In 2013, the government sold off shares in the state electricity company to private buyers, but that has not ended frequent power cuts in Africa’s biggest economy.
She said, “We’re projecting that in 2022 there will be more of these NIPPs that will be sold and from which we’ll realise this N90.3 billion.”
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Ahmed said that because government revenues were not enough to fund government projects like roads, rail and water, it would continue to borrow.
She added, “Nigeria’s borrowing has been of great concern and has elicited a lot of discussions, but if you look at the total size of the borrowing, it is still within healthy and sustainable limits.”
The minister added that total borrowing, which was equal to 23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) as of July, was lower compared to its peers.
As of the day, Nigeria’s total public debt according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) is N35.5 trillion.
