Between 2011 and 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has spent no less than $13.1 billion to settle Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations. This is as the federal government (FG) continues its borrowing spree.
In an international payment data released by the apex bank, it was discovered there-in that the $13.1 billion was paid to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Exim Bank of China, among other financial institutions for debt services.
The debt repayments, it was learnt, were made on behalf of the federal government alone excluding 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
As seen in the international payment data, between 2011 and 2017, the CBN spent an average of $328 million on debt services and payments reaching a $1.4 billion mark in 2018.
In 2019, the CBN withdrew $1.34 billion for debt servicing and payment, the international payment data revealed.
Further analysis of the data revealed that in 2021, debt services and payments dropped by 63% to $2.13 billion from $5.77 billion reported in 2020.
The reported $5.77 billion is the highest debt services and payments recorded by the CBN, while a total of $242.8 million was the lowest in 2013.
The CBN international payment data showed that in the first three months of 2021, $1.3 billion was spent on debt servicing. The amount dropped to $298.9 in the next three months ending June 2021.
From July to October, CBN further disclosed that a total of $606 million was spent on service debts.
A month-on-month breakdown showed that the CBN in January spent $617.5 million to service debts; it dropped by 65.45% to $213.3 million in February; and dropped to $172.5 million in March.
In April, the CBN disclosed that $82.3 million was spent on debt service; it moved to $167.5 million in May, the second-highest amount spent on debt service by the apex bank in one month.
In June, the amount dropped to $49.4 million; in July, it rose to $120.8 million. For August and September and October, the figures reported by the CBN were $230.6 million, $169.2 million, and $85.2 million respectively.
BizWatch Nigeria understands that CBN spent $13.1 billion to service the country’s debt in spite of increasing warnings from international bodies, economic experts, and stakeholders.
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