Nigeria’s entire public debt stock reached N121.67 trillion (91.46 billion USD) in March, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO). Patience Oniha, the DMO’s director general, announced this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
According to Oniha, the Federal Government’s, the 36 state governments’, and the Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT) total debt, both domestic and foreign, made up the debt stock.
She stated that as of March, the entire amount of debt, including internal and external, was N65.65 trillion (46.29 dollars) and N56.02 trillion (42.12 billion dollars), respectively. According to her, as of December 2023, the total debt stock was valued at N97.34 trillion, or 108.23 billion USD.
She said that the increase in the total debt stock was informed by growth in the domestic component of the debt to bridge deficit in the 2024 budget, and instability in the foreign exchange market during the first quarter.
“Excluding Naira exchange rate movements in the first quarter of 2024, only the domestic debt component of the total debt stock grew from N59.12 trillion on Dec. 31, 2023 to N65.75 trillion on March 31.
“The increase was from new borrowing to part-finance the 2024 budget deficit and securitisation of a portion of the N7 3 trillion Ways and Means advances at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” she said.
She said that improvement in government revenue would go a long way in ensuring debt sustainability, while borrowing, as provided in the 2024 budget would continue.
