PUBLIC DEBT STOCK MAY HIT 130 TRILLION NAIRA BY DECEMBER.
Nigeria’s public debt stock is projected to hit N130tn this year, raising concerns about the country’s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio.
This was revealed in a report by Afrinvest, an investment management company, titled, ‘Bank Recapitalisation, Catalyst for a $1tn Economy, ‘ unveiled in Abuja recently.
Nigeria’s public debt stock, which includes external and domestic debt, stood at N121.67tn in the first quarter of 2024, up from N97.34tn in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, indicating a growth rate of 24.99 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
Afrinvest estimated that the fiscal deficit, total public debt stock, debt-to-GDP, and debt-servicing-to-revenue rate would exceed N13.0tn, N130tn, 55 per cent, and 60 per cent by 2024 year-end, respectively.
The domestic debt includes N44.8tn in Federal Government bonds, N20.3tn in Treasury bills, and N12.4tn in other domestic debt.
The external debt is made up of N14.3tn from multilateral creditors, N10.9tn from bilateral creditors, and N19.0tn from commercial creditors.
The report recommended exploring alternative sources of forex, such as bilateral loans, natural resource-tied loans, debt-for-nature swaps, and asset concessions, to provide extended short-term reliefs.