Nigeria’s total public debt as of March 31, 2023 has grown to N49.95 trillion ($108.30 billion).
The country’s public debt added another N3 trillion between December 2022 and March 2023.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) in its quarterly assessment of the country’s debt profile said the new figure of N49.95 trillion does not include the N22.719 trillion Ways and Means facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Total debt stock recorded additional external borrowings by the government. In December 2022, total external borrowing was N18.702 trillion but by March 2023, it had grown to N19.643 trillion. Total domestic debt stock grew from N27.548 trillion in December 2022 to N30.209 in March 2023.
By the time the securitized N22.719 trillion is captured in the June 2023 figures, Nigeria’s total public debt is bound to hit the N70 trillion mark.
The DMO has also released its Market Access Country-Debt Sustainability Analysis (MAC-DSA) for 2022. This analysis is prescribed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to promote transparency.
The MAC-DSA is carried every year by the DMO in conjunction with key Federal Government agencies like the CBN, Federal Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office of the Federation National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).
Speaking to the MAC-DSA, the Director General of the DMO Ms. Patience Oniha said the recent report “highlighted the need for more revenues to keep the public debt sustainable”.
Oniha commended the recent policies of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration especially the removal of subsidy and the appointment of a Special Adviser on Revenue Mobilization which she described as “positive steps for public debt sustainability”.
(The Nation)