NIGERIA’s total public debt has risen to N149.39 trillion as of the first quarter(Q1) of 2025, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The DMO revealed this in its latest report, ‘Nigeria’s Total Public Debt Portfolio as at March 31, 2025’, published on its website on Friday, June 27.
It shows that Nigeria’s debt profile rose by N27.72 trillion year-on-year relative to N121.67 trillion, the DMO reported in the first quarter of 2024.
It also shows that Nigeria’s public debt increased by N4.72 trillion from N144.67 trillion as of December 31, 2024.
According to the DMO, external debt increased to N70.63 trillion in March 2025 from N56.02 trillion in March 2024.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, it rose slightly by N344 billion from N70.29 trillion in December 2024.
Although the DMO did not disclose the exact exchange rate at which it converted the debt from dollars to naira, it could point to a weaker naira value in the period, reflecting currency volatility faced in the country’s foreign exchange market.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria’s external borrowings include loans from multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and African Development Bank, bilateral arrangements, and commercial debt instruments, including Eurobonds.
The debt office further revealed Nigeria’s domestic debt climbed to N78.76 trillion in March 2025, from N65.65 trillion in the same period in 2024.
Domestic debt also rose by N4.38 trillion from N74.38 trillion it was as of December 2024.
The continued rise in debt stock is attributed to new borrowings by the Federal Government and the depreciation of the naira.
Amid the continuous reliance on both domestic and foreign borrowings, there have been worries over the effective utilisation of the funds to fund public projects.
The public debt is likely to inch up higher in the second quarter by the time the DMO releases its next report.
This is because in May this year, President Bola Tinubu had requested the National Assembly to approve new foreign loans worth $24.14 billion to fund key projects in infrastructure, health, education, and water supply, The ICIR reported.