Nigeria’s total public debt rose by 20.2 percent to N39.56 trillion ($95.77 billion) as at December 31, 2021, up from N32.92 trillion ($86.392 billion) in 2020, the Director-General (D-G) of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, has stated.
Oniha disclosed this at a media interactive session in Abuja, yesterday, adding that the amount represented the total External and Domestic Debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 State Governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She said that the figure also included the N5.489 trillion new borrowings by the federal government as contained in the 2021 Appropriation and Supplementary Acts to part-finance Deficit.
The breakdowns shows that domestic debt was N23.7 trillion or 69.92 percent; while external debt was N15.855 trillion, representing 40.08 per cent.
According to Oniha, borrowings were already on a downward trajectory until the 2015-2016 recession, which reversed the trend.
The DMO boss explained, however, that with the total Public Debt Stock to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as at December 31, 2021, of 22.47%, the nation’s Debt-to-GDP ratio still remained within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40%.
Oniha said that the nation’s challenge was how to manage the delicate balance of poor revenue and bridge the wide infrastructure gap in the country.
