Breaking: Nigeria’s Public Debt Climbs to N142.3 Trillion

As of September 30, 2024, Nigeria’s total national debt has increased to N142.3 trillion.

This amounts to N8.02 trillion, which is 5.97% more than the N134.3 trillion in June 2024.

Increased domestic borrowing and the impact of currency rate depreciation on external debt when translated to naira terms are both blamed for the increase.

Nigeria’s external debt increased slightly by 0.29% in dollar terms from $43.03 billion in September, according to figures issued by the Debt Management Office (DMO). But over the same time period, the naira equivalent of external debt increased dramatically by 9.22%, from N63.07 trillion to N68.89 trillion. The devaluation of the naira relative to the US dollar, which caused the exchange rate to drop from N1,470.19/$ in June to N1,601.03/$ by the end of September, was a major factor in this surge.

In terms of dollars, domestic debt decreased from $48.45 billion in June to $45.87 billion in September, a 5.34% decrease.

However, domestic debt rose from N71.22 trillion to N73.43 trillion, a 3.10% increase in naira terms. The majority of the domestic debt, which increased from N66.96 trillion in June to N69.22 trillion by September, was owed by the Federal Government.

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State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) domestic debt, on the other hand, decreased marginally from N4.27 trillion to N4.21 trillion.