The Debt Management Office (DMO), yesterday said Nigeria’s total public debt stock rose to N39.56 trillion by the end of 2021 compared to N32.915 trillion in the same period in 2020.
The Director-General, DMO, Patience Oniha, who disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja, said the amount includes new borrowings by the federal government and the sub-nationals used to finance the budget deficit, capital projects and support economic recovery.
She said: “Nigeria’s total public debt as at December 31, 2021, was N39.556 trillion or $95.779 billion. The amount represents the total external and domestic debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The comparable figure for December 31, 2020, was N32.915 trillion or $86.392 billion. The public debt stock for December 31, 2021, includes new borrowings by the FGN and the sub-nationals.
“For the FGN, it would be recalled that the 2021 Appropriation and Supplementary Acts, included total new borrowings (from domestic and external sources) of N5.489 trillion to part-finance the deficit.
“Borrowings for this purpose and disbursements by the multilateral and bilateral creditors account for a significant portion of the increase in the debt stock. Increases were also recorded in the debt stock of the states and the FCT.
“The new borrowings were raised from diverse sources, primarily through the issuances of the Eurobonds, sovereign Sukuk, and the FGN bonds. These capital raisings were utilised to finance capital projects and support economic recovery.”
This ratio (40%) is prudent when compared to the 55% limit advised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for countries in Nigeria’s peer group, as well as, the ECOWAS convergence ratio of 70%.
Oniha however insisted that despite the debt increases, Nigeria is still within the World Bank, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) debt-to GDP limits.
“With the total public debt stock to GDP as at December 31, 2021, of 22.47%, the debt-to-GDP ratio still remains within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40%.
“This ratio is prudent when compared to the 55% limit advised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for countries in Nigeria’s peer group, as well as, the ECOWAS convergence ratio of 70%,” she said.
According to her, the federal government is “mindful of the relatively high debt-to-revenue ratio” and has initiated various measures to increase revenues through the strategic revenue growth initiative and the introduction of the Finance Act since 2019.”
