NBS report: Osun not taking another loan – Alimi

Osun State Government has once again denied reports that it was planning to obtain a new loan.

This is as the state government maintained that the rise in the monthly loan repayment on the state’s foreign loan was not a result of any borrowing by the incumbent administration in the state.

This was made known by Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, in a statement on Tuesday in Osogbo.

The statement was in reaction to a report credited to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, which listed Osun State as number 10 among states with high debt service payments.

The NBS report had stated that, “Osun State, located in Nigeria’s southwest, is culturally known for the Osun-Osogbo Festival. In 2024, Osun recorded N3.4bn in external debt service costs, up from N1.57bn in 2023. This represents an increase of N1.83bn or about 116 per cent.”

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Alimi revealed that the rise in the repayment on foreign loans by the state was due to the prevailing exchange rate of the Naira to the United States Dollar.

Alimi said, “The public would kindly recall that repayment on foreign loans is usually done based on the prevailing exchange rate of the local currency (Naira) to the US Dollar.

“It is also important to put on record that Osun State was plunged into high local and foreign indebtedness in the 12 years of APC government in the state.

“As the repayment is done in line with the prevailing rate, there is an increase in the naira value of monthly loan repayment on the foreign loans portfolio of all the states of the federation.

“The inevitable increase, therefore, is not only peculiar to Osun, rather, it applies to all the states and the Federal Government. The public is assured that the state financial management is responsible and sustainable without any new indebtedness.”