DMO: Lagos, Rivers lead as public debt increased N191bn to N33trn in March

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s total public debt stock hit N33.10 trillion as at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

This represents an increase of N191 billion compared to the N32.91 trillion recorded in December 2020.

In a statement on Wednesday, DMO said the debt figures include the debt stock of the federal and state governments, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It said the total debt shows that the domestic debt stock rose by 2.11 percent from N20.21 trillion in December 2020 to N20.63 trillion as at the end of March 2021.

The 36 states and FCT accounted for N4.12 trillion of the total domestic debt in which Lagos was the most indebted with a total debt of N507.37 billion; followed by Rivers with N266.936 billion; Akwa Ibom (N232.20 billion); Delta, N213.98 billion; and Cross River with N162.34 billion.

Meanwhile, the federal government’s domestic debt component as at the end of March period stood at N16.51 trillion.

This includes Nigerian treasury bill (NTB), Nigerian treasury bonds, FGN savings bond, Sukuk, green bond and promissory note used to finance infrastructure and other capital projects.

DMO explained that the promissory notes (N940.22 billion) were issued to settle the inherited arrears of the federal government to state governments, oil marketing companies, exporters and local contractors.

The statement further showed that external debt stock, however, declined by $488 million from $33.348 billion as at December 31, 2020 to $32.86 billion due to the redemption by Nigeria of the $500 million Eurobond in January 2021.

A breakdown shows that the external debt is made up of $17.83 billion owed to multilateral creditors, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group, and African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Also, bilateral debts accounted for $4.18 billion, comprising of Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China, Agence Francaise Development (France), Japan International Cooperation Agency, Exim Bank of India, and Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbua (Germany), while commercial debts stood at $10.66 billion.