Nigeria’s public debt reached N97 trillion in December 2023 – DMO

The Debt Management Office on Friday, March 22, announced that Nigeria’s public debt stock as of 31 December 2023 is N97.341 trillion (108.229 billion dollars). 

The agency which noted that the amount comprised domestic and external debt stocks of the federal government, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), added that the new figure shows an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for 30 September 2023.

This was largely because of the new domestic borrowing by the federal government to part-finance the deficit in the 2024 budget, and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.

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.

The DMO said; 

“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 per cent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 per cent.

“That is a total of 63.79 per cent, mostly concessional and semi-concessional loans. Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practices in public debt management, the recent and ongoing efforts of the authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability.”