Nigeria’s Debt To Hit N33.85trn As Senate Okays Buhari’s Loan Request

Nigeria’s total debt is set to hit N33.85 trillion ($110.29 billion) following the N6.97 trillion ($22.7 billion) loan approved for President, Muhammadu Buhari by the Senate.

Recall that the Senate had on Thursday approved Buhari’s, loan request and the funds would come from the African Development Bank, the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, creditors in China, Japan and Germany.  

The loan, when secured, would however raise the country’s total debt burden to $110.29 billion (N33.85 trillion), which represents an increase of 22.58 % from $85.39 billion recorded as of September 2019.   

The country’s debt as of September 2019, was 26.21 trillion (85.39 billion), with the domestic debt  standing at N17.94 trillion (58.4 billion), and the external debt standing at N8.27 trillion (26.94 billion)

In February 2020, the World Bank had approved $2.2 billion loan request from the Buhari administration.   

The approval becomes necessary as the coronavirus has impacted on global crude oil price, which has reduced it to $52 per barrel, while the country’s budget was built on an oil benchmark of $57 per barrel.