Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that the country’s public debt increased to ₦97.34 trillion ($108 billion) by the fourth quarter of 2023.
DMO released this information in a statement provided to journalists on Friday.
The rise in debt levels primarily resulted from fresh domestic borrowing endeavors initiated by the Federal Government.
These new government borrowings are intended to partially cover the deficit specified in the 2024 Appropriation Act, in addition to funds received from both multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The statement partly read, “Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as of December 31, 2023 was ₦97.34 trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the thirty-six (36) state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of ₦9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023 which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to partially finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.”
According to the DMO, while domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt, external debt accounted for 39 percent of the total debt owed by Nigeria.
“At ₦59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at ₦38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“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 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional,” the statement added.
The DMO stated that it remains dedicated to implementing the finest practices in public debt management and is determined to bolster revenue to uphold debt sustainability.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practices in public debt management, the recent and ongoing efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability,” it stated.
In December 2023, the DMO announced that Nigeria’s overall public debt stood at ₦87.91 trillion or $114.35 billion as of September 30, 2023.