The Debt Management Office has disclosed that Nigeria’s total foreign debt for the period ending March 31st, 2023, has risen to N49.85 trillion ($108.30 billion) from N46.25 trillion as of December 21st, 2022.
DMO revealed this in a statement released and shared on its Twitter handle.
According to the statement, the total public debt containing the external and domestic debts of the Federal Government, the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory was N49.85 trillion.
The DMO, however, added that the recently securitised Ways and Means loans of N22.719 trillion would be included as Federal Government domestic debt from June 2023.
Part of the statement read, “Comparatively, the total public debt stock for the preceding period, December 31, 2022, stood at N46.25 ($103.31 billion). During the period, there was an increase in the debt stock of the Federal Government, states, and FCT.
The Public Debt Stock for March 2023 does not include the FGN’s N22.719 trillion Ways and Means Advances of the Central Bank of Nigeria, whose securitization was approved by the National Assembly in May 2023. The amount will be included in the FGN’s Domestic Debt Stock from June 2023.”
Meanwhile, data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that the federal government spent $894 million to service foreign debt obligations from January to April 2023.
The export and international payment data released over the weekend showed that the federal government spent $ 112.35 million in January 2023, $288.5 million in February, $400.5 million in March, and a significant service of $92.8 million for the month of April.
However, the data revealed also that total direct remittances for the first four months of 2023 were $451.61 million.
Further breakdown showed that in January, $79.2 million was recorded, and in February, $83.76 million was recorded, while in March, $138.6 million was recorded, and in April. $159.04 million was recorded.
