Nigeria’s total debt stock rose from N32.9tn as of December 2020 to N39.6tn in November 2021 Reports has learnt.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in her presentation of the 2022 approved budget, disclosed that the government borrowed N6.7tn between January and November 202.
The new borrowing in the period under review consists of N5.1tn domestic debt and N1.6tn. The domestic debt, however, includes borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria, according to the presentation document.
In March 2021, the Debt Management Office had disclosed that the country’s total public debt stock was N32.9tn as of December 2020.
An additional N6.7tn loan means the total public debt stock would be about N39.6tn as of November 2021.
The DMO had disclosed that the country’s total public debt increased to N33.1tn at the end of the first quarter of 2021, from N32.9tn in December 2020, showing an increase of about 200bn.
In the 2nd Quarter of 2021, the total debt stock rose by N2.4tn to N35.5tn by June 2021.
The increase continued by N2.5tn to hit N38tn by Q3 2021, which was the last figure provided by the DMO.
However, based on the minister’s presentation, there was an increase of N1.6tn from September to November 2021.
Noteworthy is that within the 11-month period, debt servicing gulped N4.2tn which represents 76.2 per cent of the N5.51tn revenue generated during the period.
However, economic experts, including a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and former presidential candidate, Kingsley Moghalu, have expressed concern over the nation’s debt profile.
Insisting that the country has failed to seek other ways through which it can improve domestic revenue, Moughalu affirmed that outrageous borrowing can only amount to selling the country’s future.
Also, The World Bank had recently said Nigeria’s debt was vulnerable and costly, adding that the country’s debt was at risk of becoming unsustainable in the event of macro-fiscal shocks.
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