Nigeria’s Public Debt Surpasses N87 Trillion Mark, DMO Reports

Nigeria’s total public debt stock has reached N87.91 trillion (equivalent to 114.35 billion dollars) as of September 30, as reported by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in Abuja on Wednesday.

This amount encompasses the combined domestic and external debts of the federal government, the 36 state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The latest figure reflects a marginal increase of 0.61 per cent compared to the June total of N87.38 trillion.

The DMO explained that this slight increase is attributed to the decrease in external debt from 43.16 billion dollars as of June 30 to 41.59 billion dollars by September 30. Additionally, there was a relatively moderate increase of N1.80 trillion in domestic debt during the same period.

The reduction in external debt is attributed to the redemption of a 500 million dollars Eurobond. Furthermore, it decreased due to the repayment of 413.959 million dollars as the first principal installment of the N3.4 billion dollars loan secured from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The DMO emphasized that the consistent servicing of these debts reflects the federal government’s commitment to meeting its financial obligations.

Source: Peoples Gazette