Amidst concerns by the Bretton Woods Institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank over Nigeria’s ability to repay its foreign debt, which has continued to rise, the Debt Management Office (DMO), has put the country’s public debt at N25 trillion.
Although the institutions said conditions were favourable for Nigeria to continue to borrow, but IMF’s major worry is on its capacity to repay, given the mono-product nature of the economy.
According to the DMO, Nigeria’s total public debt recorded a 2.3 per cent growth, representing about N560.009 billion between January and end March (Q1) of 2019, thus bringing the country’s new debt level to about N25 trillion, up from the end December 2018 level of N24.387 trillion.
The Director-General, DMO, Ms. Patience Oniha, in a statement, said the amount represents both the domestic and foreign debt obligations of the Federal and States Government including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She said: “The Debt Management Office in its practice of publishing the Public Debt Data comprising the Domestic and External Debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States of the Federation, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has released the Total Public Debt Data as at March 31, 2019. At N24.947 trillion ($81.274 billion) as at March 31, 2019, the total Public Debt grew marginally by 2.30% when compared to the figure of N24.387 trillion ($79.437 billion) as at December 31, 2018.”
Oniha explained that the increase of N560.009 billion in the total public debt in Q1 2019, was accounted for largely by domestic debt, which grew by N458.363 billion. She added that increases were recorded in the Domestic Debt Stock of the FGN, States and the FCT.
Source: Guardian Newspaper.
