PUNCH
Nigeria’s total public debt stock surged by N12.6tn in three months to N134.3tn ($91.3bn) by the end of the second quarter of 2024, The PUNCH reports.
This is a 10.35 per cent increase from the N121.7tn ($91.5bn) recorded in the first quarter of this year.
The rise has been attributed primarily to the devaluation of the naira, according to an official document seen by The PUNCH, which was presented at a session on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF annual meetings in Washington DC as Nigeria hosted foreign investors.
The document stated, “In Q2 2024, the debt stock grew in naira terms to N134.3tn ($91.3bn) from N121.7tn ($91.5bn) in Q1 2024, driven mainly by exchange rate devaluation. The dollar amount of debt was roughly the same.”
Although it looked like Nigeria’s debt is reducing in dollar terms, The PUNCH observed that there was an increase of N5.55tn or 8.45 per cent in domestic debt, from N65.65tn in Q1 2024 to N71.2tn by Q2 2024.
Also, there was an increase of $780m in external debt from $42.12 bn in the first quarter of this year to $42.9bn by June 2024.
The document seen by The PUNCH showed that domestic debt continued to dominate Nigeria’s public debt portfolio in Q2 2024, accounting for 53 per cent of the total debt stock at N71.2tn ($48.4bn).
