Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said that widespread report that Nigeria has failed the World Bank Disclosure Rule is false.
According to a statement by the DMO on Thursday to clarify the situation, the debt office noted that there has been no publication by the World Bank accusing Nigeria of failing its disclosure rule.
The statement was a response to recent media reports which indicated that the World Bank accused Nigeria of failing to publish its Annual Borrowing Plans (ABP).
The office said that Nigeria is one country that had imbibed the principle of transparency in public debt.
“The website of the focal agency for this purpose, the DMO, is frequented by diverse individuals and institutions within and outside Nigeria, searching for information on Nigeria’s public debt.
“The DMO’s website is filled with detailed information on public debt, including debt by source, instrument, and maturity, amongst others.
“The website also includes debt management strategy and debt sustainability analysis,” it said.
Faulting some specific claims in the report, the DMO said that the country’s annual borrowing plans were usually contained in the annual budgets.
“The total borrowings are listed in three categories – new domestic borrowings; new external borrowings and draw down bilateral and multilateral loans.
“The public debt stock is published quarterly on the DMO’s website. This is supported by periodic physical and virtual media briefing sessions,” it said.
It added that guaranteed debt (contingent liabilities) was listed by name and amount on its website, stating that information on recently contracted loans was available as of December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2020.
“Instrument coverage is comprehensive as borrowing instruments for external and internal debts are disclosed in the quarterly debt reports and annual reports, both of which are published on the DMO’s website,” it said.
The DMO on December 31, 2021, announced that the country’s total debt stock was N39.6 trillion but the office also recently announced on its website that the total debt stock had increased to N41.6 trillion by March 31, 2022.
