Nigeria’s total public debt stock hit N67.58 trillion as of September 2022.
This was according to data compiled from the website of the Debt Management Office and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
NewsBeatng reports that the total adjusted public debt stock of N67.5 trillion represents a debt-to-GDP ratio of 34.7%. Nigeria’s total nominal GDP from the 4th quarter of 2021 through to the 3rd quarter of 2022 added up to N191.8 trillion.
Public debt data published in December by the debt management office reveal Nigeria’s total issued third-party debt including debts owed by states and the FCT summed up to about N44.7 trillion.
However, the total Ways and Means of N22.8 trillion for the same period takes the total adjusted public debt to about N67.5 trillion.
This compares to a total of N42.8 trillion and N19.9 trillion for issued third debts and Ways and Means respectively. The total adjusted public debt of N67.5 trillion is a whopping N4.8 trillion or 7.7% higher than the N62.7 trillion debt stock as of June 2022.
The federal and state government locally issued debts include FGN securities, Treasury Bills, Green Bonds, and Sukuk.
According to the September data, total domestic debt stock rose to N26.9 trillion from N26.2 trillion. States portion of domestic debt stock is estimated at N5.2 trillion.
FGN Bonds continue to dominate as the largest portion of the Government’s issued debt pull summing to N15.7 trillion. Issued treasury bills for the period amounted to N4.5 trillion.
Ways and Means which has in recent times added to Nigeria’s total domestic debt stock rose from N19.9 trillion to N22.8 trillion an increase of N2.9 trillion in 3 months.
The September data shows total foreign debt portfolio for the country was $39.6 billion or N17.8 trillion (assuming an official exchange rate of N450/$1) compared to $40 billion as of June 2022.
The drop in foreign debts is a result of a drop in the World Bank loans outstanding which was stated as $12.5 billion in September compared to $13 billion as of June 2022.
Nigerian government has often cited the country’s low debt-to-GDP ratio (when compared to more developed countries) as a reason not to be alarmed by its ballooning debt.
