Nigeria’s total Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2022, was N46.25 trillion or USD103.11 billion, the Debt management Office said on Thursday.
The public debt stock consists of the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and the state governments and the Federal Capital Territory.
The figure shows a 16.91% increase compared to N39.56 trillion or USD95.77 billion as at December 31, 2021.
In terms of composition, total domestic debt stock was N27.55 trillion (USD 61.42 billion) while total external debt stock was N18.70 trillion (USD 41.69 billion).
The Federal Government holds N22.21 billion of the total domestic debt. 73.94% of FG’s domestic debt is FGN Bonds valued at N16.42 billion.
The FG’s total domestic debt service for the last quarter of 2022 (October to December) stood at N406.77 billion, while external debt service was USD312.27 million in the same period.
Details of Nigeria’s External Debt in USD:
Multilateral: $20.2 billion, with $13.93 billion owed to the World Bank Group, $3.27 billion owed to the International Monetary Fund, $2.57 billion owed to African Development Bank Group. others are Islamic Development Bank ($140 million), and Int’l Fund For Agricultural Development ($252.72 million).
Bilateral: $5.07 billion with 84.73% of the bilateral debt owed to China, according to the DMO.
Here is the breakdown of the bilateral debt
- China ($4.29 billion)
- France ($535.95 million)
- Germany ($144.54 million)
- Japan ($62.72 million)
- India ($30.34 million).
Eurobonds stood at $15.62 billion while Promissory Notes amounted to $547.91 million.
DMO said the said the increase was due to “new borrowings by the FGN and sub-national governments, primarily to fund Budget Deficits and execute projects. The issuance of Promissory Notes by the FGN to settle some liabilities also contributed to the growth in the Debt Stock.”
Meanwhile, the total public debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio for December 31, 2022, was 23.20% and indicates a slight increase from the figure for December 31, 2022, at 22.47%.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
