Nigeria’s debt has spiked by about N4trillion in the past six months, data on the country’s debt profile revealed earlier in the week by Debt Management Office, DMO, revealed.
The nation’s debt profile surged from N12.6 trillion at the end of 2015 to N16.3 trillion as at June 30, 2016. A development which can thwart the chances of securing the much-needed foreign loans for implementing 2016 budget.
The country’s total external debt stock, owed by states and the federal government, stood at N3.19 trillion by June 30, while domestic debt incurred by the federal government stood at N10.61 trillion.
Domestic debts taken by state governments stood at N2.5trillion, as Lagos, Delta, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory top the debtors list.
The increase in debt is not necessarily due to more borrowings, but due to the weakness of the naira against the dollar. In fact, the debt, in dollar terms, has declined from $65.43 billion in 2015 to $61.45 billion in 2016, TheCable reported.
As at the end of 2015, Nigeria’s debt, in dollar terms, stood at 13.02 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In 2016, however, the debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to 16.83 percent, based on 2015 GDP figures.
