Economy
FG Must Reduce Debt Burden Ratio Below 20%—FSDH

By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Federal Government has been advised to development ways to reduce its debt burden ratio below 20 percent, at least in the main time.
FSDH Research, in its latest report titled ‘Nigerian Public Debt: A Comparative Analysis,’ said the fact that interest payment is such a significant part of government revenue limits the revenue left for the government to undertake other developmental projects in the short-term.
“We expect this position to improve as government revenue increases as a result of the ongoing economic measures in the country to raise the level of revenue.
“We are of the opinion that government should develop strategies to reduce the ratio of interest payment to revenue below 20 percent in the medium-term,” the firm suggested.
It said further that although the debt stock in Nigeria has increased substantially, it believes this is sustainable in the short-to-medium term given the economic growth potential of the country.
In the short-to-medium-term, government will need to borrow both from external and domestic sources in order to augment the low revenue facing the country as a result of the current economic challenges.
The FGN needs to improve critical infrastructure in the country to increase the competitiveness of the economy to attract investments. This requires more money than current government revenue. The FGN is also working to diversify its revenue base through the issuance of the FGN Savings Bond, Diaspora Bond, and Sukuk.
The efforts of the FGN coupled with the improvement in the macroeconomic environment should help to lower interest rate, it noted.
“We will also continue to encourage the government to partner with the private sector in the provision of critical infrastructure. In addition, government should ensure that any debt contracted is judiciously utilised on projects that promote economic growth and development,” FSDH Research said.
The firm said it observed that the public debt (total of both external and domestic debt) in Nigeria has been increasing over the last five years and the issue of the sustainability of the debt level has generated a lot of debate.
A comparative analysis of the debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a number of countries shows that the ratio of debt-to-GDP is very low in Nigeria.
“Amongst the countries we monitored, Japan recorded the highest debt-to-GDP of 250.40%. This was followed by the United States of America (U.S) with 104.17%; France 96%, United Kingdom (UK) 89.30%; and Germany 68.30%. India and China have a debt-to-GDP of 69.50% and 42.90% respectively. South Africa and Venezuela have debt-to-GDP of 50.10% and 49.80% respectively,” it said.
Available data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows that Nigeria’s total debt stock as at March 2017 stood at N19.16trn, representing an increase of 10.37% from the December 2016 figure of N17.36trn.
This also represents growth of 153.63% from N7.55trn in 2012. A breakdown of the debt stock shows that external debt accounted for 22.08% (N4.23trn), while domestic debt stock accounted for 77.92% (N14.93trn).
The increase in the total debt is attributable to the following factors: the need to fund infrastructure and to supplement the declining government revenue. Many analysts have argued that the increase in government’s appetite for borrowing has crowded out the private sector.
The proportion of domestic debt to total public debt dropped consistently between 2013 and Q1
2017.
On the average, the proportion of domestic debt to total debt was 85% between 2012 and 2015; but reduced to 78% between 2016 and Q1 2017.
The increase in external borrowing and the impact of exchange rate depreciation were the main reasons for the reduction in the proportion of the domestic debt stock. The FGN has set what it believes to be an optimal domestic debt to external debt ratio at 60:40. At the current (external to domestic debt) level of 78:22, it appears that there is still room to increase the external debt component of the total debt stock.
The debt-to-GDP in Nigeria as at December 2016 stood at 17.11%. This is far below the critical limit of 40% the FGN has set for the Nigerian economy.
This means that, by this metric alone, there is substantial room for the government to increase its borrowing.
However, the debt-to-GDP ratio is not the only issue. The major stress point is the rising level of interest payment relative to government revenue. The ratio of interest payment-to-government-revenue increased from 24.48% in 2012 to an estimated 35.32% in 2016.
The FGN expects that this ratio will moderate slightly to 33.67% in 2017.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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