10th July, 2019
Nigeria’s total public debt that aggregates both external and domestic debt has ballooned to N24.947 trillion ($ 81.274 billion), according to a statement by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Wednesday.
The new figure for March 2019 represents a 2.3 per cent increase from the December 2018 figure of N24.387 trillion or $79.437 billion.
But do not panic that your country is being saddled with debt. The DMO said the Total Public Debt to GDP Ratio was 19.03% which is within the 25% Debt Limit imposed by the Government.
Read the DMO’s full statement:
The Debt Management Office in its practice of publishing the Public Debt Data comprising the Domestic and External Debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has released the Total Public Debt Data as at March 31, 2019. At ₦24.947 Trillion (US$ 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.
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.”