The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Tuesday stated that Nigeria’s total debt profile rose to N22.38 trillion as at the end of June this year, thereby ending recent speculations on the actual debt figures.
The Office disclosed in Abuja that the nation’s debt profile rose by 3.01 per cent in the last six months, attributing the increase to the $2.5bn Eurobond issued by the Federal Government in February.
The DMO stated: “The Total Public Debt which encompasses the Domestic and External Debt Stock of the Federal and 36 State Governments and the Federal Capital Territory stood at N22.38 Trillion or USD73.21 billion as at June 30, 2018.
“This figure was a marginal increase of 3.01 per cent over the Public Debt Stock for December 2017. The increase in the Public Debt Stock over the six months period was due largely to the $2.5bn Eurobond issued in February 2018. When compared to the Debt Data for March 2018, the Public Debt Stock actually decreased by 1.44 per cent from N22.71tn in March 2018 to N22.38tn in June 2018.
“The decrease was due to a 3.38 per cent decline in the FGN’s domestic debt stock between March and June 2018. There were however marginal increases of 0.07 per cent in the external debt stock and 2.75 per cent in the domestic debt of states”, it added
According to the office, one of the key highlights of the public debt data is the consistent decrease in the FGN’s domestic debt.
For instance, DMO reported that the Federal Government’s domestic debt profile declined from N12.59 trillion at the end of last year to N12.58 trillion in March and N12.15 trillion by the of June this year.
