NIGERIA’s total public debt rose to N144.67 trillion as of December 31, 2024, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has disclosed.

The debt office revealed this in its latest publication on Nigeria’s debt portfolio on Friday, April 4.

It indicates that the country’s debt stock rose by 48.58 per cent from N97.34 trillion reported as of December 31, 2023.

In dollar terms, Nigeria’s debt profile stood at $94.23 billion as of December 31, 2024 relative to $108.23 billion as of the same period in 2023.

Analysis of the report shows that Nigeria’s public debt worsened by N47.32 trillion in one year under review.

The surge in public debt was driven primarily by significant increases in both external and domestic borrowings.

According to the report, Nigeria’s external debt rose by 83.89 per cent to N70.29 trillion from N38.22 trillion.

This sharp increase was largely attributed to new external borrowings obtained during the year, as well as the impact of the naira depreciation, which inflated the naira equivalent of dollar-denominated debt.

Domestic debt also increased by 25.77 per cent to N74.38 trillion from N59.12 trillion

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the debt stock rose by N2.35 trillion from N142.32 trillion reported as of September 30, 2024.

The increase can be traced to the additional foreign loans obtained within the last three months to the end of 2024, coupled with the weakening of the naira against major international currencies.

A look at the report indicates that the composition of the debts of December 2024 shows external debt constituted 48.59 per cent against 51.41 per cent of domestic debt.

The continued increase in external borrowings, however, suggests a growing reliance on foreign debt to bridge budgetary shortfalls.

Economic analysts have been wary of the continued rise in Nigeria’s public debt, given its huge implications to the country’s fiscal stability.

The ICIR reports that the federal government depends on both external and domestic borrowing to fund critical projects as it has always witnessed revenue shortfalls.

Amid the revenue shortfalls, there have been calls on the government to be more prudent in its spending while utilising its limited resources for strategic purposes.

The ICIR reported in January this year that each Nigerian was owing over N656,000 in debt per capita as of September 30, 2024.