DMO: Public Debt Increased To N97.34tn In Q4

The Debt Management Office of Nigeria has disclosed that the Nigeria’s public debt has increased to N97.34tn ($108bn) as of the fourth quarter of 2023.

This was disclosed by DMO in a statement available to journalists on Friday.

Public debt is one of the ways countries get extra funds for economic development.

The statement said, “Nigeria’s public debt stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trn or $108.229bn.

“This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 states governments and the Federal Capital Territory.”.

DMO explained that the increase was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the government to partly finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.

It showed that, at N59.12tn, total domestic debt accounted for 61 per cent of the total public debt stock while external debt at N14.3822trn accounted for the balance of 39 per cent.

It added, “Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 per cent ) or total of 63.79 per cent which are mostly concessional and semi concessional."

The DMO expressed its commitment to employ the best practice in public debt management and is ready to shore up the country’s revenue.

It said, “Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability."