Nigeria’s Debt Is Expected To Reach N77 Trillion, While Loan Servicing Will Cost N5.2 Trillion.
The Nigeria Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha disclosed on Wednesday, at the public presentation of the 2023 budget by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, that the Nigeria’s public debt may hit increase of N77 trillion.
Patience Oniha Claims if the National Assembly approves the request of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to restructure the Ways and Means Advances, there is tendency of increase in the public debt.
According to Oniha, Excelbreakingnews reported that, the Central Bank of Nigeria uses a borrowing instrument called The Ways and Means Advances to pay for budgetary gaps in the government.
In 2022, the Federal Government spent N5.24 trillion on servicing depts.
But she added that without N5 trillion in additional borrowing and N2 trillion in promissory notes, the debt would be N70 trillion.
She said, “The DMO released the figure for the country’s debt stock as at September, you don’t expect it to be significantly different from December. Secondly, there are a lot of discussions on the Ways and Means. In addition to the significant costs saving in loans service we would get by securitizing it.
“There is an element of transparency in the sense that it is now reflected in the public debt stock. Once it is passed by the National Assembly, it means we will be seeing that figure included in the public debt. You will see a significant increase in public debt to N77tn.”
Oniha stressed that as the debt is increasing, so as the revenue is receiving significant importance.
“Like DMO always says, you can’t talk about debt without talking about revenue. We need the two to work together,” she added.
The country’s debt stock increased to N44.06 trillion as of September last year due to the FG’s enormous thirst for borrowing under the present administration, which worsened the financial situation. Punch reported.
