By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has disclosed that new borrowings by the federal government and the state governments increased Nigeria’s debts by N1.22 trillion in three months.
In a notice released over the weekend, the agency said the country’s debts, as of September 30, 2022, stood at N44.06 trillion compared with the N42.84 trillion it was as of June 30, 2022.
Within the three-month gap, the government ran to the capital market to sell bonds and treasury bills to domestic investors, as borrowing via the international debt market was more expensive at the moment.
Also, offshore investors have refused to part away with their money because of fears that the country may delay in repaying the loans due to its difficulty in increasing its revenue from crude oil sales.
Recently, there were reports that the Nigerian government may restructure its loans. This has triggered fresh concerns among international observers.
The country has been unable to increase its earnings from oil sales, causing a foreign exchange (FX) crisis in Nigeria, which put the Naira under pressure and depleted the external reserves.
In the disclosure from the debt office, it was stated that the total domestic debt stock in the third quarter of the year was N26.92 trillion and the external arm at N17.15 trillion.
“As at September 30, 2022, Nigeria’s total public debt stock, which comprises the total domestic and external debt stock of the federal government of Nigeria, all state governments and the federal capital territory (FCT), stood at N44.06 trillion.
“In comparison, the total public debt figure as at June 30, 2022, was N42.84 trillion.
“The total domestic stock as at September 30, 2022, was N26.92 trillion, while the total external debt stock as at September 30, 2022, was N17.15 trillion.
“The increase in the debt stock was largely due to new borrowings by the federal government to part-finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation Act, as well as new borrowings by sub-nationals,” the statement said.
As for the states, a breakdown showed that Lagos is leading with N877.0 billion, followed by Delta State with N272.6 billion, and Rivers State with N225.5 billion.
The least indebted state in Nigeria as of Q3 of 2022 was Jigawa at N44.4 billion, followed by Kebbi at N60.1 billion and Katsina at N62.4 billion.
Business Post reports that today, the DMO approached the debt capital market to borrow between N210 billion and N240 billion from investors on behalf of the federal government to part-finance the budget, which has less than three weeks to end.
Dipo Olowookere 
Modupe Gbadeyanka