LEGIT NG
Nigeria spent about 277.64% on external debt servicing in Q3 of 2023, data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows.
An analysis of the data indicates that external debt servicing stood at $368.26 million in the second quarter of 2023.
Top three external debt service expenditure
The figure increased to $1.39 billion, showing a 277.64% rise in the three months under review.
The DMO used N768.93 per dollar as the exchange rate in calculating the naira value for external debt servicing.
According to DMO data, the top three external debt service expenditure items for the third quarter of 2023 include Eurobonds at $943.661 million, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) at $212.038 million, and the Exim Bank of China at $137.191 million.
The debt office said in a statement on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, that external debt declined due to the redemption of a $500 million Eurobond and payment of $413.859 million as the primary repayment and the amount of $3.4 billion loan obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during COVID-19 in 2020.
The DMO data did not show any debt service to the IMF.
Nigeria increases debt servicing
Reports say there has been a significant increase of 237.06% in total debt servicing, including external and domestic debt.
