The public debt of Nigeria rose from N87.91 trillion (equivalent to 114.35 billion dollars) in the third quarter of 2023 to N97.34 trillion (which translates to 108.23 billion dollars) in the fourth quarter of the same year.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this information on Tuesday through its Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt Report for the fourth quarter of 2023, issued in Abuja.
According to the report, Nigeria’s total public debt, comprising both external and domestic debt, increased by 10.73 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Specifically, external debt amounted to N38.22 trillion (equivalent to 42.50 billion dollars) in the fourth quarter of 2023, while domestic debt reached N59.12 trillion (which translates to 65.73 billion dollars).
“However, the share of external debt to total public debt stood at 39.26 per cent in Q4 2023, while domestic debt was recorded at 60.74 per cent.’’
Breaking down the data by state, the bureau revealed that Lagos State had the highest domestic debt of N1.05 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023, followed by Delta with N373.41 billion.
The report indicated that Jigawa recorded the lowest domestic debt at N42.76 billion, with Kebbi following closely at N60.69 billion.
Furthermore, it highlighted that Lagos State held the highest external debt, amounting to 1.24 billion dollars, followed by Kaduna State with 587.07 million dollars.
“Borno recorded the lowest external debt with 20.49 million dollars, followed by Yobe with 21.49 million dollars,” the NBS stated.