TheCable

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N97.34 trillion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.

In a statement on Friday, DMO said the latest figure represents a 10.73 percent or N9.43 trillion increase compared to N87.91 trillion recorded in the third quarter (Q3) last year.

The country’s public debt consists of domestic and external debt stocks of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) and the subnational governments — the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

According to DMO, the increase was primarily due to new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2024 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.

“At N59.12 Trillion, Total Domestic Debt accounted for 61% of the Total Public Debt Stock while External Debt at N38.22 Trillion accounted for the balance of 39%,” DMO said.

“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s External Debt Stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77%) and bilateral lenders (14.02%) or total of 63.79% which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.”

DMO said while it continues to use best practices in public debt management, the fiscal authorities’ recent and ongoing measures to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability.