FG, States Borrow N2.24tn In One Year

– Total debt now N24.95tn

The Federal Government and the states including the Federal Capital Territory Administration borrowed a total of N2.24tn in one year, analysis has shown.

According to the Debt Management Office, the country’s debt stood at N24.95tn as of March 31, 2019.

Data obtained from the DMO in Abuja on Wednesday showed that the country’s debt rose from N22.71tn as of March 31, 2018 to N24.95tn as of March 31, 2019.

The domestic component of the nation’s total debt stood at N17.09 as of March 31 while the external debt component stood at N7.81tn or $25.61bn.

Thus, the external debt component accounted for 31.51 per cent while the domestic debt component accounted for 68.49 per cent.

A year earlier (March 31, 2018), the external debt component of the total debt profile stood at N6.75tn ($22.07bn) while the domestic debt component stood at N15.96tn.

This means that the external debt rose by N1.06tn reflecting 15.7 per cent increase while the local debt component rose by N1.13tn, reflecting 7.08 per cent within a period of one year.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the DMO said that the increase in the debt figure reflected a marginal increase when compared to the debt status as of December 31, 2018.

The agency said, “At ₦24.947 Trillion (US$ 81.274 Billion) as at March 31, 2019, the Total Public Debt grew marginally by 2.30% when compared to the figure of ₦24.387 Trillion (US$ 79.437 Billion) as at December 31, 2018.

“The increase of ₦560.009 Billion in the Total Public Debt in Q1 2019 was accounted for largely by Domestic Debt which grew by ₦458.363 Billion.  Increases were recorded in the Domestic Debt Stock of the FGN, States and the FCT. External Debt also increased by ₦101.646 Billion during the same period.”

It added, “In relation to the Debt Management Strategy, the Ratio of Domestic to External Debt stood at 68.49% to 31.51% at the end of March 2019. The Total Public Debt to GDP Ratio was 19.03% which is within the 25% Debt Limit imposed by the Government.”