The Debt Management Office (DMO) says that Nigeria’s Public Debt announced rose by 2.3 percent in the first quarter 2019.
According to the DMO report on Wednesday, the total public debt stood at ₦24.947trn (US$ 81.274 Billion) as at March 31, 2019, representing a marginal growth of 2.30 percent when compared to ₦24.387 Trillion (US$ 79.437 Billion) recorded as at December 31, 2018.
The report shows that the increase of ₦560.009 Billion in the Total Public Debt in the period was accounted for largely by Domestic Debt, which grew by ₦458.363 Billion and External Debt by ₦101.646 Billion, as increases were recorded in the Domestic Debt Stock of the FGN, States and the FCT. External Debt also increased by ₦101.646 Billion during the same period.
“In relation to the Debt Management Strategy, the ratio of Domestic to External Debt stood at 68.49 percent to 31.51 percent at the end of March 2019. The Total Public Debt-to- GDP ratio stood at 19.03 percent, which is within the 25 percent Debt Limit imposed by the Government”.
Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja.
