NIGERIA’s total public debt portfolio has risen by 24.99 per cent in a space of three months to N121.67 trillion as of March 31, 2024.
The country’s Debt Management Office (DMO) disclosed this in its latest report released on Thursday, June 20.
It declared that the federal government and the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) owe $91.46 billion in dollar terms.
“Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) official exchange rate of $1 to N1,330.26 as of March 31, 2024, was used in converting external debt to naira,” the DMO noted.
External debt rose to N56.02 trillion or $42.12 billion, representing a 46.57 per cent increase compared to N38.22 trillion or $42.495 billion the debt office declared as of December 31, 2023.
Also, domestic debt rose to N65.65 trillion or $49.35 billion, representing an 11.05 per cent increase relative to N59.12 trillion or $65.73 billion as of December 31, 2023.
A cursory look at the data indicates that while the total public debt dropped to $91.46 billion in dollar terms as of March 2024 from $108.23 billion as of December 2023. It, however, increased in naira term to N121.67 trillion as of March 2023 from N97.34 trillion as of December 2023.
The increase in the debt profile in naira terms resulted in the loss in value of the Nigerian currency against the dollar in the three months between December 2023 and March 2024.
In December 2023, the DMO calculated the the public debt profile at the rate of N899.393/$1, but at N1,330.26/$1 as of March 2024.
According to DMO, of the domestic debt, the federal government owes a substantial N61.58 trillion or $46.29 billion while the states and FCT owe a paltry N4.07 trillion.
The debt office failed to disclose what the federal government as well as the states and FCT owe from the external debt portfolio.
The ICIR reports that with the increasing quest of President Bola Tinubu-led administration to secure more loans, the Nigerian government currently owes more than what the DMO had declared.
Recently, the World Bank approved a $2.25 billion loan for Nigeria to bolster its economic stability and support its poor and vulnerable populations.
The Britton Woods Institution disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, June 13, The ICIR reported.
The loan constituted $1.5 billion for the Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing Program and $750 million for the Nigeria Accelerating Resource Mobilisation Reforms Programme-for-Results.
Last year, the World Bank raised the alarm that Nigeria had used over 96 percent of its revenue generated in 2022 to service debt and added that the constant fiscal deficit has aggravated the nation’s public debt stock.