• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Nigeria borrows N2.04trn in three months, debt hits N41.60trn

Nigeria’s public debt stock rose by N2.04 trillion in the first three months of this year to N41.60 trillion, according to new official data.

Data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Tuesday showed that the country’s public debt increased by 5.16 percent in the first quarter of 2022 from N39.56tn at the end of last year.

The N41.60 trillion represents the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“The total public debt stock includes new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation Act, the $1.25bn Eurobond issued in March 2022 and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders,” the DMO said.

Read also: The numbers that show outsized role of oil in Nigeria’s economy

It said there were also increases in the debt stock of the state governments and the FCT.

The debt office said: “While the total public debt to GDP at 23.27 percent was below Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 percent, the momentum by the government to grow and diversify revenues remain a priority to ensure that public debt is sustainable.

“Initiatives in this regard are yielding results as actual revenues for January to November 2021 at N5.51 trillion was 39.21 percent more than the N3.96 trillion recorded in 2020. Similarly, the share of non-oil revenue grew to 80 percent compared to 61 percent in 2020.”