Nigeria’s Debt Stock Rose 2.30% To N24.9tn In Q1, 2019
CHUKWUMAH KELECHUKWU
From N24.387 trillion as of December 31, 2018, Nigeria’s debt stock accelerated 2.30 percent to N24.947 trillion as of March 31, 2019 with domestic debt component accelerating faster than external debt.
Debt Management Office (DMO) on Wednesday indicated that the debt stock comprising domestic and external debts of the Federal Government, the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory accelerated by N560billion with the domestic component growing faster by N458.36 billion while the external debt stock increased by N101.64 billion during the review period.
According to Debt Office, the ratio of domestic to external debt stood at 68.49 per cent to 31.51 per cent at the end of March. The Office however noted that at 19.03 per cent, the total public debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio was within the 25 per cent debt limit imposed by the government.
A breakdown of the debt portfolio obtained from website of the government agency revealed that Federal Government owes N13.1 trillion domestically, while the states together with the FCT owe N3.97 trillion. But the external debt of Federal Government, States and the FCT stood at N7.8 trillion.
Lagos has the highest domestic debt of N542.2 billion, followed by Rivers with N225.5 billion, Delta: N223.4 billion and Akwa Ibom with N199.7 billion. Conversely, Yobe recorded the least debt profile with N26.9 billion, followed by Anambra with N33.4 billion, and Sokoto with N36.5 billion, Jigawa with N38.2 billion and Niger with N43.4 billion.
According to the data, five states including Anambra, Borno, Ebonyi, Ekiti and Lagos have not incurred any domestic debt in 2019.
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