Nigeria sinks into more debt as financial obligation rose to N32.9tn in December
- Within four months, Nigeria’s public debt rose to N32.9tn according to the Debt Management Office
- According to the agency, the country's debt figure stood at N32.2tn as of the end of September 2020
- The figures include the debt stock of the federal and state governments, as well as, the FCT
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It seems Nigeria is sinking in more debts if the statement released by the Debt Management Office is to be believed.
According to the statement, Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N32.9tn at the end of December 2020.
The report from the DMO said the figure stood at N32.2tn as of the end of September 2020. This consequently showed an increase of N700bn, Punch reports.
Source: Twitter
The statement read in part:
“Nigeria’s total public debt as of December 31, 2020 was N32.92tn. The figures include the debt stock of the federal and state governments, as well as, the Federal Capital Territory."
Going further, the DMO stated that new borrowing to part finance budget deficits had declined steadily from N2.36tn in 2017 to N2.01tn in 2018, N1.61tn in 2019 and N1.59tn in the first 2020 Appropriation Act.
It added:
“It should be noted though, that apart from the new domestic borrowing of N2.3tn, the other new borrowings were concessional loans from the International Monetary Fund ($3.34bn) and other multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“This incremental borrowing to part-finance the 2020 budget and the additional issuance of promissory notes to settle some arrears of the Federal Government of Nigeria, contributed to the increase in public debt stock.
Recall that Legit.ng reported that the Federal Executive Council gave approval for the collection of $104.2million and $20million loans from two international financial institutions for the development of water projects in Nigeria.
According to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, the loans would come from the African Development Bank and the African Growing Together Fund.
A spokesperson for the ministry, Kenechukwu Offie, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday, November 5, 2020.
Legit.ng had also reported that the federal government was in the process of acquiring a $750million loan, from the World Bank to help boost the Nigerian economy.
Based on current dollar rates, the total sum of the money in naira is N285, 375, 000 (two hundred eighty-five billion three hundred seventy-five million three hundred eighty).
This loan according to the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, will stimulate the local economy and support vulnerable household consumption.
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Aanu Adegun is a politics and current affairs content editor at Legit.ng with over 7 years of experience in both digital and traditional media. A graduate of English Studies from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo state, Aanu started his journalism career as a features writer. Aanu, who is also a creative writer has written books and children magazines. He once anchored some specialised pages of a national newspaper. Aanu is also a satirist.
Source: Legit.ng
