Nigeria’s Public Debt Jumps To N142.3trn

A data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt has risen to N142.3 trillion as of September 30, 2024.

This represents an increase of 5.97% (N8.02 trillion) compared to N134.3 trillion in June 2024.
The rise, according to DMO,  is attributed to the combined effects of escalating domestic borrowing and the impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt when converted to naira terms.

A look at the data released by the DMO reveals that Nigeria’s external debt in dollar terms grew marginally by 0.29%, from  $43.03 billion in September. However, the naira equivalent of external debt surged significantly by 9.22%, rising from N63.07 trillion to N68.89 trillion during the same period. This increase was largely driven by the naira’s depreciation against the US dollar, as the exchange rate weakened from N1,470.19/$ in June to N1,601.03/$ by the end of September.

Domestic debt declined by 5.34% in dollar terms from $48.45 billion in June to $45.87 billion in September.

In naira terms, however, domestic debt increased by 3.10%, from N71.22 trillion to N73.43 trillion. The Federal Government accounted for the bulk of domestic debt, which rose from N66.96 trillion in June to N69.22 trillion by September.

In contrast, domestic debt owed by states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) declined slightly, from N4.27 trillion to N4.21 trillion.