Nigeria’s public debt stock hits N87trn

Nigeria’s total public debt stock hit N87.91 trillion ($114.35 billion) as of September 30, 2023, the Debt Management Office (DMO) confirmed.

The DMO, in a statement on Wednesday, December 20, said the amount represented the domestic and external debts of the federal government, the 36 state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The N87.91 trillion total debt stock represents a marginal increase of 0.61 per cent, when compared to the June figure of N87.38 trillion.

The debt office said this trend was explained by the decrease in external debt from $43.16 billion as of June 30 to $41.59 billion as of September 30.

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It said there was also a relatively moderate increase of N1.80 trillion in the domestic debt.

The DMO added: “External debt decreased due to a redemption of 500 million dollars Eurobond.

“It also decreased due the payment of 413.959 million dollars as first principal repayment of the N3.4 billion loan obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020, during Covid-19.”

According to DMO, the servicing of all the debts is a clear demonstration of the federal government’s commitment to honouring its debt obligations.

It, however, said President Bola Tinubu’s revenue generation initiatives remained important to Nigeria’s overall fiscal balance.

The Star