The Federal and State governments accumulated a combined debt stock worth N26.14tn as at the end of September 2019, a leap from N25.7trn in the previous quarter.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics data, N8.27tn, representing 31.55 percent of the debt stock, was external, while N17.94tn, representing 68.45 percent of the debt was domestic.
The federal government’s share of the debt (external and domestic) stood at N20.86tn, while the total debt stock for states was N5.354 trillion respectively.
The states’ domestic debt from N3.966tn in the second quarter to N4.042tn in the third quarter, with Lagos State accounting for 10.9 percent of the total
domestic debt, while Yobe State had the least debt stock in this category, with a contribution of 0.7 percent.
The Central Bank of Nigeria warned last Friday that public debt was rising faster than both domestic and external revenues and urged government to tread cautiously in interpreting the debt-to-GDP ratio.
The CBN noted that rising stock of public debt and lack of fiscal buffers were major downside risks to growth projections this year and beyond.
