Nigeria’s Public Debt Up By N24tr In 3 Months, Hits N121trn-DMO

• Increase Caused By Domestic Borrowing To Fund 2024 Budget Deficit

Nigeria’s total public debt has risen by a whopping N24tr in three months, fresh data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Thursday, June 20, 2024 has disclosed.

The figure rose by 24.99 percent from N97.34 trillion in December 2023 to hit N121tr as of March 31st 2024.

According to the DMO, the increase was pushed up by new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2024 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.

“Total domestic debt was N65.65 trillion (USD46.29 billion) while total external debt was N56.02 trillion (USD42.12 billion).

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“Excluding naira exchange rate movements in Q1 2024, only the domestic debt component of total public debt grew from N59.12 trillion on December 31, 2023, to N65.65 trillion on March 31, 2024.

“The increase was from new borrowing to part-finance the 2024 Budget deficit and securitization of a portion of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Whilst borrowing, as provided in the 2024 Appropriation Act, will continue, we expect improvements in the government’s revenue to enhance debt sustainability.”

On June 13, Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, announced the approval of two major “financial support packages” by the World Bank — valued at $2.25 billion.

In May, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said the federal government has secured a $500m World Bank loan to boost electricity distribution in the country.

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Prior to this, the federal government had received $750 million from the World Bank for humanitarian and social reforms and $1.5 billion for its economic stabilisation plan.