March 22, (THEWILL)- Nigeria’s public debt stock as of December 31, 2023, stood at N97.341 trillion (108.229 billion dollars), the Debt Management Office (DMO), said on Friday, in Abuja.
The amount shows an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September 30, 2023,
According to the DMO, the increase was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to finance the deficit in the 2024 budget and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The total public debt comprised domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent”, it said
It said “Loans from multilateral sources constituted 49.77 percent of the country’s external debt stock, while loans from bilateral sources constituted 16.02 percent.
“That is a total of 63.79 percent, 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.”
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