Nigeria’s total public debt has risen by a whopping N24 trillion in the first three months of the year to hit N121.67 trillion.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) revealed this in fresh data released on Thursday.
The figure rose by 24.99 percent from the N97.34 trillion in December 2023.
Nigeria’s public debt profile consists of domestic and external debt stocks of the federal and subnational governments — the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
According to the DMO, the debt was pushed up by new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2024 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“Total domestic debt was N65.65 trillion (USD46.29 billion) while total external debt was N56.02 trillion (USD42.12 billion).
“Excluding naira exchange rate movements in Q1 2024, only the domestic debt component of total public debt grew from N59.12 trillion on December 31, 2023, to N65.65 trillion on March 31, 2024.
“The increase was from new borrowing to part-finance the 2024 Budget deficit and securitization of a portion of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Whilst borrowing, as provided in the 2024 Appropriation Act, will continue, we expect improvements in the government’s revenue to enhance debt sustainability,” DMO stated.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said on June 13 that the World Bank had approved two major “financial support packages” valued at $2.25 billion.
In May, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said the federal government has secured a $500 million World Bank loan to boost electricity distribution in the country.
Before this, the federal government received $750 million from the World Bank for humanitarian and social reforms and $1.5 billion for its economic stabilisation plan.
By: Babajide Okeowo
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