Nigeria’s public debt stock hits N42 trillion

The overall public debt in Nigeria increased from N41.60 trillion ($100.07 billion) in March to N42.84 trillion ($103.31 billion) in June.

This is stated in a statement that was downloaded on Tuesday from the website of the Debt Management Office.

The statement claims that the overall debt consists of the debt stocks held by the 36 State Governments, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).

However, it noted that while the local component of the debt climbed to N26.23 trillion (63.24 billion dollars), the foreign component stayed at the same level of N16.61 trillion (or 39.96 billion dollars).

As of March 30, the local portion of the nation's borrowings were N24,98 trillion (60.1 billion USD).

According to the DMO, a greater portion of the external indebtedness consisted of concessional and semi-concessional loans.

Loans with concessions or partial concessions make up more than 58% of the stock of external debt.

They came from bilateral lenders including Germany, China, Japan, India, and France as well as multilateral lenders like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Afrexim, and African Development Bank.

"In March, the entire domestic debt stock was N24,98 trillion ($60,1 billion), while in June, it was N26,23 trillion ($63,24 billion).

According to the DMO, "this is due to additional borrowings by the FGN, as well as new borrowings by state governments and the FCT, to partially finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) Act."

According to the report, the total public debt-to-gdp ratio was 23.06 percent, which was still within acceptable bounds, but debt service to revenue was still high.

It also stated that the federal government was dedicated to raising revenue in order to lower the amount used to service debt.

"The Debt-to-GDP ratio was 23.06 percent as of June 30 compared to 23.27 percent as of March 30. It still falls inside Nigeria's self-imposed 40% cap.

"Debt Service-to-Revenue Ratio Remains High," it stated. "While the Federal Government Continues to Implement Revenue-Generating Initiatives in the Non-Oil Sector and Block Leakages in the Oil Sector."

The FGN Securities Awareness Program will be presented by the DMO in Yola on Wednesday and Umuahia on September 29.

The campaign is intended to educate Nigerians on the significant investment benefits of FGN securities, hence promoting financial inclusion, according to Patience Oniha, director-general of DMO.