Nigeria at risk of £17bn default

[emad]

Time is running out for talks, warns delegation

Larry Elliott, economics editor
Tuesday April 26, 2005
The Guardian

Nigeria is heading towards an Argentinian-style default on its $33bn (£17bn) of overseas debt unless western creditors accept a deal to alleviate the country's financial burden, a delegation from west Africa's biggest economy said in London yesterday.

As part of a four-country visit, the senior politicians warned that public unrest was growing over the hardline approach adopted by the west and that time was running out for negotiations.

Farouk Lawan, the chairman of the finance committee in Nigeria's house of representatives, said: "It is unconscionable that Nigeria has paid £3.5bn in debt service over the past two years but our debt burden has risen by £3.9bn - without any new borrowing. We cannot continue. We must repudiate this debt."

Mr Lawan, who moved a resolution last month calling on the government of president Olusegun Obasanjo to repudiate the debt, said parliament might trigger a crisis by refusing to sanction the funds to pay creditors. "We are getting close to saying that we won't pay."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1470480,00.html

[Tesha]

1. Maybe they should E-mail out some solicitations for help? (NT)

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

2. Wow - this follows the script in

the Book "Confession of an Economic Hitman" perfectly...

Convince a country's leaders of their potential growth if WE were to build up the infrastructure, propose WAY too much work, get the country into debt, and subsequently "own" them when they can't pay off their debt...

Very convenient if they have oil as well...

Wolfowitz and World Bank are a marriage made in heaven...