TheCable

Data made available by the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows that the federal government spent N609.13 billion on servicing domestic debt between January and March 2020.

According to a document released on Thursday, the instruments that were serviced are treasury bills, FGN bonds, saving bonds and sukuk bonds.

Providing a breakdown, the DMO said N111.60 billion was paid as interest paid on treasury bills; N488.9 billion on FGN bonds, and N392.794 billion FGN savings bonds.

A monthly breakdown also showed that debt service totalled N251.35 billion in January; N158.12 billion in February, and N199.658 billion in March.

According to the medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy (MTEF/FSP) report published by the ministry of finance, budget, and national planning, the debt service to revenue ratio for the first quarter of 2020 was 99 percent.

During the quarter, the federal government’s retained revenue was N950.56 billion while N943.12 billion was expended on debt servicing.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also projected that all revenue accrued to the federal government in 2020 will be spent on interest payments.

As of March 31, 2020, the country’s total public debt was put at N28.62 trillion.

Of this figure, external debt accounted for N9.98 trillion. A breakdown of the N18.64 trillion domestic debt showed that the federal government held N14.5 trillion and states held N4.1 trillion.

Featured image: Patience Oniha, director-general of the Debt Management Office