Nigeria’s Debt To Hit N77trn In 2023

The Debt Management Office says Nigeria’s debt is expected to hit N77 trillion in 2023, OduNews reports.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha disclosed this on Wednesday during the public presentation of the 2023 budget organized by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed.

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.”

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed also 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.