Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Debt Management Office has disclosed that the public debt stock of Nigeria increased by 25.00 per cent or N24.33 trillion on a quarter-on-quarter basis in the first quarter of 2024.
In a statement issued by the agency on Thursday, it was disclosed that the total debt, comprising domestic and external borrowings, stood at N121.67 trillion in the first three months of this year compared with the N97.34 trillion recorded in the last quarter of last year.
The amount involved the loans taken by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for different projects and interventions.
It was noted that the domestic component of the total debt was N65.65 trillion, and the external component was N56.02 trillion.
“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,” a part of the disclosure seen by Business Post said.
It was further stated that, “The increase was from new borrowing to part-finance the 2024 budget deficit and securitisation of a portion of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”
The debt office disclosed in the statement that, “While borrowing, as provided in the 2024 Appropriation Act, will continue, we expect improvements in the government’s revenue to enhance debt sustainability.”
