National Debt Rises to N22.43tn

• National Debt Rises to N22.43tn

The Debt Management Office has revealed that Nigeria’s total debt as of September 30, 2018 stood at N22.43trillion.

National debt was N12.12 trillion as of June 30, 2015 but has jumped by N10.31 trillion or 85.06 percent under the current administration.

Domestic debt of both the Federal Government and the subnational governments stood at N15.81 trillion with the Federal Government responsible for N12.29 trillion.

Foreign debt of both the federal government and state governments stood at $21.59 billion.

The Debt Management Office said the statistics changed slightly from June 30, 2018.

On the difference between the debt statistics of the two quarters, the DMO said, “External debt declined by 2.02 per cent to $21.59bn due largely to the redemption by Nigeria of a $500m Eurobond which matured on July 12, 2018.”

“The Eurobond which was issued for a tenor of five years in 2013 was the first Eurobond maturity for Nigeria and Nigeria’s ability to repay it seamlessly boosted Nigeria’s position as a good credit in the International Capital Market.”

“The domestic debt of the FGN, states and the FCT grew by 1.19 per cent from N15.63tn in June 2018 to N15.8tn in September 2018. This increase of N185bn was attributed to the FGN (N135bn) and states and FCT (N50bn).”

It added, “The combination of an increase in the level of domestic debt and a decrease in the external debt stock resulted in a slight shift in the portfolio composition.”

“As of September 30, 2018, the share of domestic debt was 70.51 per cent compared to 69.83 per cent in June 2018.”

“This trend is expected to be reversed in Quarter Four 2018 as the new external borrowing of N849bn (about $2.78bn) provided in the 2018 Appropriation Act is expected to be raised within the quarter.”