The Debt Management Office (DMO) at the weekend disclosed that Nigeria’s Public debt stock rose to N97.341 trillion or $108.229 billion as at December 31, 2023, representing an increase of N9.43 trillion when compared to the debt reported at the end of the third quarter of the year.
The Office, in a Notice issued last Friday, indicated that the amount comprised the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government, the 36 States
It attributed the surge in the public debt to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
According to the DMO, at N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61% of the total public debt stock while external debt totalling N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39%.
It clarified that in line with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral institutions, which accounted for 49.77%, and bilateral lenders at 14.02%, both of which represented 63.79% of the external debt stock, are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
The DMO assured its readiness to continue to adopt best practices in public debt management, stressing that the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability.
