Obiano’s Anambra recorded low domestic debt — BudgiT

Anambra State under former Governor, Willie Obiano was ranked 3rd in 2021 in financial fiscal performance by BudgiT.

This ranked it as the second best among South Eastern states, a statement has disclosed. It stated that the former governor, who governed Anambra from 2014 to 2022, achieved one of the lowest debt positions in the federation.

The statement read in parts, “Large part of the funds borrowed from development partners were channelled to physical infrastructure. In its State of The States report 2021, BudgiT disclosed that while in office, Obiano prioritised capital infrastructure investment and recorded a small operating expense.

“The BudgiT report showed that as a low-debt state, Anambra’s total debt stood at N100.05bn (inclusive of $108.09m external debt). The state’s total debt per capita stood at N16,343, significantly lower than the country average of N27,316.

“It explained that Anambra state under Obiano had one of the smallest domestic debts in the country ranking 24th by size.”

BudgiT disclosed that despite fiscal shocks induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, the state’s year-on-year Internally Generated Revenue increased by 6.22 per cent from N26.37bn in 2019 to N28.01bn in 2020, compared to a 36.59 per cent growth witnessed between 2018 and 2019 when the state pulled in N19.31bn and N26.37bn, respectively in both years.

It added, “At N43.77bn, Anambra had one of the smallest operating expenses for running the state government amongst all 36 states. It cut the overhead component of its operating expense by 22.11 per cent from N23.55bn in 2019 to N18.34bn in 2020.

“The report showed that with a total debt burden of N1.04tn, up by 19.73 per cent from N871.33bn in 2019, Lagos State was the most indebted state out of the 36 states. Lagos also had the highest external debt of $1.41bn, giving it the highest exposure to risks of exchange rate volatility.

“Despite an overall decent fiscal performance in 2020, Anambra still needs to take critical measures to improve its resilience by boosting foreign trade in the state, increasing economic prosperity.”

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