Nigeria’s total debt stock has risen to N24.9 trillion (US$81.2 billion) as of the end of March 2019 according to the latest report released on Wednesday by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
According to the latest report released by DMO, Nigeria’s total debt portfolio hits N24.9 trillion as of March 31, 2019, compared to N24.3 trillion in December 2018. This means, quarter on quarter, Nigeria’s total debt stock rose by 2.3% or N560 billion.
In the breakdown of the debt stock, Nigeria’s debt stock category for the first quarter of 2019 shows that the country’s total external debt is estimated at N7.8 trillion (US$25.6 billion), constituting 31.5% of total debt for Federal government, State and the FCT.
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The total domestic debt rose to N17 trillion (US$55.6 billion) or 68% of total debt stock within the quarter. The Federal government’s domestic debt was put at N13.1 trillion or US$42.7 billion.
All the 36 states accrued domestic debt of N3.97 trillion or US$12.9 billion as of the end of March while states’ debt stock hits N3.97 trillion.
A Further look into the breakdown of debts accruable to states in Nigeria revealed that states’ debt profile increased by 3% within the last quarter while as of December 2018, total debt accruable to states was estimated at N3.85 trillion but the figure rose to N3.97 trillion in March 2019.
Analysis of the data shows that Lagos State posted the highest debt stock as of March 2018 with a whopping N542.2 billion. Other states that make up the top 10 highest indebted states in Nigeria include: Rivers – N225.5 billion, Delta – 223.4 billion, Akwa Ibom – N199.7 billion, Cross River – N167.2 billion, FCT – N163.5 billion, Osun – N147.7 billion, Bayelsa – N133.3 billion, Kano – N121.7 billion and Ekiti – N118 billion.
Samson Oyedeyi
