Nigeria’s Debts Rise 2.98% to N42.84trn in Three Months

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The total debt profile of Nigeria increased by 2.98 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to N42.84 trillion in June 2022 from N41.60 trillion in March 2022.

A statement issued by the Debt Management Office (DMO) disclosed that the total public debt stock of N42.84 trillion comprises the funds borrowed by the federal government, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In Dollar terms, the money owed by Nigeria stood at $103.31 billion as at June 30, 2022, in contrast to $100.07 billion as at March 31, 2022.

These debts were incurred by the country from different sources, including from the domestic capital market and the international capital market.

A breakdown showed that the country’s total external debt stock in the second quarter of this year was $40.06 billion (N16.61 trillion) compared with the $39.96 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

The stats office said over 58 per cent of the external debt stock are concessional and semi-concessional loans from multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Afrexim and African Development Bank (AfDB) and bilateral lenders including Germany, China, Japan, India and France.

It was further disclosed that the total domestic debt stock as at June 30, 2022, was N26.23 trillion ($63.24 billion) due to new borrowings by the national government to part-finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) Act, as well as new borrowings by state governments and the FCT.

The DMO disclosed that the total public debt to the gross domestic product (GDP) as at June 30, 2022, was 23.06 per cent compared to the ratio of 23.27 per cent as at March 30, 2022.

The agency emphasised that the debt to GDP ratio remains within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent.

It further disclosed that while the FGN continues to implement revenue-generating initiatives in the non-oil sector and block leakages in the oil sector, the debt service-to-revenue ratio remains high.