Nigeria’s total public debt stock, comprising the debt obligations of the federal government, states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) rose from N39.56 trillion in December 2021 to N41.60 trillion ($100.07 billion) in the first three months of 2022 (January to March), the Debt Management Office (DMO).
In addition, the domestic debt service obligations of the federal government stood at N668,685, 710,112.98 in the first three months of 2022. According to the DMO, with the increase in the country’s debt profile, its total public debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) now stands at 23.27 per cent, as against 22.43 per cent on December 31, 2021.
The DMO, in a statement posted on its website, explained: “The amount represented the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory. The comparative figures for December 31, 2021, were N39.56 trillion or $95.78 billion.”
The total public debt stock, the agency said, included new domestic borrowing by the FGN to partly finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation Act, the $1.25 billion Eurobond issued in March 2022 and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders. According to data posted by the DMO, the federal government’s total domestic debt as of March 31, 2022, stood at N20.144 trillion (N20,144,027,724,703).
In the same vein, the federal government’s domestic debt service of N668,685 billion for the review period was for Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs), Federal Government Bonds, FGN Savings Bond, and FGN Sukuk Rentals. A breakdown of the debt service obligations showed that N188,364,772,069.17 was paid out in January, N103,883,183,876.20 in February and N376,437,754,167.61 in March.
Federal government bonds accounted for the lion share of N630,535,774,886.21 followed by NTBs with N29,642,197,193.31 and FGN Sukuk Rentals N8,167, 315,066.60. Similarly, FGN Savings Bond took the rear with N340,422,964.8 million. Total debt service for NTBs in January was N3,220,890,038.78, while February and March were N7,23, 906,633.90 and N19, 189,400,520.63. For Federal Government Bonds, total debt service of N185,026,886,879.94 was paid in
January, N96,527,951,065.07 in February, and N348,980,936,941.20 in March. Also, the DMO data showed that FGN Savings Bond gulped debt service of N116,995,150.45 in January, N123, 326,177.23 in February and N100,101, 637.18.
There was no debt service payout for FGN Sukuk Rentals in January and February, but in March, a total of N8,167, 315,066.60 was paid. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external debt stock as of March 31, 2022, stood at $39,969.19 billion. This comprised debts for multilateral and bilateral creditors as well as commercial loans.
Nigeria owes the largest chunk of $18,957.22 billion to multilateral creditors, including the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Development Bank, European Development Fund Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Islamic Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Out of the $18,957.22 billion owed to multilateral agencies, $12,229.43 billion and $486.10 million respectively to the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)- two members of the World Bank Group.
It is also indebted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of $3,395.08 billion and $4 495.87 billion to bilateral creditors, including China Exim Bank $3,667.65 billion), Agency Francoise Development of France ($567.89 million) and KfW of Germany ($164.04 million), among others. Nigeria’s second external debt obligation was commercial loans, standing at more than $15.918 billion. This included Eurobonds and Diaspora Bond.
Meanwhile, the World Bank Group has slashed its global growth forecast to 2.9 per cent for 2022, 1.2 percentage points lower than the 4.1 per cent it had predicted in January. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the bank warned that the world economy could slip into a period of stagflation reminiscent of the 1970s.
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