Fakoyejo OlalekanLagos State, Kaduna and 34 other states disbursed N21.62 billion to fund foreign debt between January to March 2022. The debt finance is 31.5% higher than the amount paid out in the same period of 2021.
The 36 states had paid N16.44 billion as debt repayment for last year’s first quarter. The 31.5% increase indicates the impact of debt on revenue generated by the state governments.
Data obtained by Prime Business Africa from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), revealed that the N21.62 billion was deducted from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), which allocates revenue to states monthly.
Top five highest debt repayment by Nigerian states
Lagos State, Nigeria’s economic hub, recorded the highest external debt deduction of N7.27 billion in Q1 2022. The debt payment grew 27.93% year-on-year, having paid N5.69 billion during the corresponding period of 2021.
Kaduna State also recorded an increase in its debt payment, rising by 47.22% year-on-year, considering the government had paid out N1.54 billion in the first quarter of last year, but that debt deduction was stepped up to N2.26 billion for the period between January to March 2022.
Cross River saw N1.36 billion deducted from its allocation for the period under review for its foreign debt obligation. It was 80.6% increment, having recorded a deduction of N754.97 million in the first quarter of last year.
Oyo State lost a total of N1.24 billion in Q1 2022 to external debt payment, against the N1.09 billion deducted from the government’s account in the comparable period of last year, according to the NBS report. This is a 12.4% increase year-on-year.
Rivers State allocation depleted by N800.58 million between January to March this year, which indicates that the debt deduction rose by N14.71% in contrast to the N697.92 million it lost to the external debt in the corresponding period of 2021.
Debt owed by Lagos State, Kaduna, Cross River, other Nigerian states
As of December 2021, Lagos state owes $1.33 billion foreign debt, Kaduna government accounted for external debt of $595.12 million, and Cross River owes $279.71 million.
Oyo State’s external debt is $85.27 million as of December 2021, while that of Rivers State was $147.78 million.
Meanwhile, the 36 state governments in Nigeria got allocation of N590.45 billion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, with N720.21 billion sent to the federal government as gross allocation in Q1.
During the period under review, local governments across the Nigerian states received N436.37 billion, while its noteworthy that as part of the 13% oil derivation fund, oil-producing states received an extra N145.4 billion to their gross allocation.
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