Nigeria’s public debt increases by N1.23trn in three months

Data made available by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria’s public debt portfolio increased by N1.23 trillion between December 2019 and March 2020 to stand at N28.63 trillion.

According to the bureau, the debt portfolio comprised of debts owed by the federal and state governments and represents a 4.48 percent increase from N27.40 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The data released on Friday showed that Nigeria’s external debt stood at N9.99 trillion (34.89 percent of the total sum) and domestic debt stood at N18.64 trillion (65.11 percent).

The total debt held by state governments and the FCT domestic debt was N4.10 trillion while the federal government held N14.5 trillion.

Domestic debt held by the federal government at the end of March increased by 1.42 percent at N14.53 trillion compared to the N14.27 trillion held in December 2019.

Lagos state ranked as the state with the most debts, holding N444.22 billion which accounts for 10.8 percent of the total domestic debt stock.

Rivers follows with N266.93 billion accounting for 6.5 percent; Akwa Ibom holds N240.03 billion and Delta, N230.03 billion.

The states with the lowest debt stock are Yobe with N29.29 billion, Anambra with N33.91 billion, Jigawa with N36.02 billion and Ebonyi with N42.41 billion.1.23trn in th