January 5, 2023

Nigeria’s debt is expected to hit N77 trillion in the coming year, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Channels Television reports that the Director General of the DMO, Patience Oniha said this on Wednesday at the public presentation and breakdown of the highlights of the 2023 Appropriation Act in Abuja.

While data from the DMO puts Nigeria’s public debt at N44.06 trillion as of the third quarter of 2022, the government plans to borrow more to fund the supplementary and 2023 budgets.

“There are a lot of discussions on the ways and means. In addition to the significant cost saving in loan service we would get by securitising it, there is an element of transparency in the sense that it is now reflected in the public debt stock,” the DMO boss added.

“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 N77 trillion.

“The other area of the debt stock we are trying to highlight is to say the debt stock is also growing from the issuance of promissory notes, which are not true borrowing as such by the government.”

Oniha was not the only person that spoke at the event. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed also attended and reiterated the Federal Government’s plan to remove subsidies on fuel.

This, she stated, is in line with the 18-month extension announced in early 2022.

According to her, in the 2023 fiscal period, the government has made provisions of N3. 36 trillion for fuel subsidy payments to cover the first six months of the year.