Nigeria’s Debt Profile Hits N2.04 Trillion in First Quarter of 2022
- Nigeria's debt profile has increased by N2.04 trillion in first quarter of 2022, raising the total debt profile to N41.60 trillion
- As of December 2021, Nigeria's total debt profile stood at N39.56 trillion which Nigerians have said is too much for the country
- Experts say the country's debt profile is a huge challenge considering its revenue to which they say is a sustainability problem
On Tuesday, June 7, 2022, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said that Nigeria’s total public debt went up by N2.04 trillion, bringing the total of it to N41.60 trillion in the first quarter of 2022 from N39,56 trillion as of December 2021.
There was an increase of N2.04 trillion within three months.
Source: Getty Images
State borrowings balloon Nigeria's debt
The public debt stock includes the total domestic and external debt of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 states and Abuja.
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The Debt Management Office disclosed this in a statement on its website.
According to the DMO, the entire public stock as of March 31, 2022, stood at N41.60 or N100.07 billion.
The Punch report said that the DMO stated the total public debt stock also includes new domestic borrowing by the federal government to finance the 2022 appropriation Act, the $1.25 billion Eurobond given in March, 2022 and the disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
Experts fault rising debt profile
The DMO added that there was also a spike in the debt stock of the state governments and the FCT.
Experts said the rising debt profile of Nigeria poses sustainability concerns.
Ex-Chairman of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf said both the borrowings from the CBN, and AMCON debt, the debt profile would exceed N50 trillion., the Punch report said.
According to Yusuf, debt becomes a problem if the revenue cannot match borrowing.
Odinkalu: Nigeria's public debt profile has tripled in 7 years as China may be angling to own the Country
Legit.ng reported that rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu, has said Nigeria’s debt profile has increased three times in the last seven years, that is since Muhammadu Buhari mounted the saddle as Nigeria’s president.
Odinkalu said this in a tweet but did not expatiate as he only provided an undated chat from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Odinkalu may not be an economist but available data from Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s debt profile has soared to about N35.65 trillion recently because of increased borrowing by Buhari's government.
Source: Legit.ng
