Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits ₦42.25trn, DMO Insists Figure Within Threshold

The Debt Management Office, on Thursday, revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N46.25 trillion or $103.11 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.

It stated that the new figure consists of domestic and external total debt stocks of both  federal government and the sub-national governments (36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory).

The latest figure on Nigeria’s public debt was disclosed in a statement by the Debt Management Office on Thursday.

According to DMO, the comparative figure of public debt as of December 31, 2021, was N39.56 trillion or $95.77 billion.

This means that the country’s debt increased by N6.69trn or $7.34bn within one year.

The DMO said the increase in total debt stock resulted from borrowings to fund Budget Deficits, to execute new projects and the issuance of promissory notes to settle liabilities by both federal and sub-national governments.

According to the statement, “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).

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“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 DMO further explained that the debt figure under review was 23.20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), indicating that it was well within the limits set by both the federal government and international organisations.

“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”, the statement clarified.