Nigeria’s Public Debt Surges To N46.25 Trillion

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt stock surges to N46.25 trillion equivalent to $103.11 billion.

VerseNews Nigeria reports that this was stated in a statement on Thursday May 30 by DMO while computing the comparative figure of public debt as of December 31, 2021 which is N39.56 trillion or $95.77 billion.

This consequently implies that Nigeria’s debt increased by N6.69trn or $7.34bn within one year.

This Online News Media Understands that the new figure based on the DMO statement is made up of the domestic and external total debt stocks of the Federal Government and the sub-national governments (36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory).

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The statement partly read, “As of December 31, 2022, the Total Public Debt Stock was N46.25 trillion or USD103.11 billion.

“In terms of composition, total Domestic Debt Stock was N27.55 trillion (USD 61.42 billion) while Total External Debt Stock was N18.70 trillion (USD 41.69 billion).

“Amongst the reasons for the increase in the total public debt stock were new borrowings by the FGN and sub-national governments, primarily to fund budget deficits and execute projects. The issuance of promissory notes by the FGN to settle some liabilities also contributed to the growth in the debt stock.

“On-going efforts by the Government to increase revenues from oil and non-oil sources through initiatives such as the Finance Acts and the Strategic Revenue Mobilization initiative are expected to support debt sustainability.”

“The total public debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio for December 31, 2022, was 23.20 per cent and indicates a slight increase from the figure for December 31, 2022, at 22.47 per cent.

“The ratio of 23.20 per cent is within the 40 per cent limit self-imposed by Nigeria, the 55 per cent limit recommended by the World Bank/International Monetary Fund, and, the 70 per cent limit recommended by the Economic Community of West African States.”