By Temitope Adebayo
Nigeria’s public debt stock as of 31 December 2023 was N97.341 trillion, the latest data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed.
The DMO explained that the amount comprised domestic and external debt stocks of the federal government, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The debt office said that there was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for 30 September 2023.
It said that the increase was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the federal government to part-finance the deficit in the 2024 budget, and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 per cent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22trillion accounted for the balance of 39 per cent,” it said.
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The DMO said that the country’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The debt office said the move was consistent with the country’s debt management strategy. It said that loans from multilateral sources constituted 49.77 per cent of the country’s external debt stock, while loans from bilateral sources constituted 16.02 per cent.
“That is a total of 63.79 per cent, mostly concessional and semi-concessional loans.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and ongoing efforts of the authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability,” it said.
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