‘It is false’ — DMO denies reports on defaulting on China loan repayment

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has debunked claims that Nigeria defaulted in loan repayment to China.

In a statement on Wednesday, the DMO said it was quoted by a media report as saying that the country failed to fully service its debt to China, which had accumulated to N110.31 billion in the last two years.

The report also claimed that “penalties stand at N41.31 billion”, the debt office said.

However, the agency denied the assertions, describing them as false and advised the citizens to ignore the report.

“The attention of the Debt Management Office (DMO) has been drawn to a publication by some media houses claiming that Nigeria has defaulted in debt repayment to China for which it claimed “penalties stand at N41.31 billion,” the statement reads.

“The public is advised to ignore the publication as it is false.

“A closer look at the media publication shows that the body of the publication is completely detached from the headline.

“It gives the impression that the publishers of the report may have set out to mislead the public.

“The public is assured that Nigeria is fully committed to honouring its debt obligations and has not defaulted on any of its debt service obligations.”

China is one of Nigeria’s biggest creditors as a bilateral lender.