TheCable

Data made available by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Tuesday showed that Nigeria’s debt stock has hit N20 trillion as at September 30, 2017.

Domestic debt accounts for 76.96 percent of this figure while foreign debt accounts for 23.04 percent.

In figures, domestic debt stood at N15.679 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent from the N15.034 trillion recorded in June.

Foreign debt stood at N4.694 trillion, a rise of 1.9 percent above the N4.602 trillion as at June 30.

According to the DMO, the figures show that the federal government was more inclined to domestic debt, which is partly responsible for the high debt service figures.

In 2017, the federal government issued various debt instruments like the N100 billion Sukuk for road construction, monthly FGN Savings bond and the Eurobond.

The federal government has already expressed intentions in raising $5.5 billion externally.

According to Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, $2.5 billion will be used to part finance the N2.322 trillion deficit in the 2017 budget and $3 billion to repay maturing domestic debt.

This will also contribute to attaining the target 60:40 domestic and external debt ratio.

The office said other benefits expected from the plan are: increased availability of funds to the private sector and lower domestic lending rates; both of which will contribute to the growth of the private sector and increase the level of external reserves to support the Naira.