AGS NEWS – The Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria has disclosed that the country’s public debt has risen to N97.34 trillion ($108 billion) as of the fourth quarter of 2023.

According to a statement released by the DMO and made available to journalists on Friday, public debt serves as a means for countries to secure additional funds for economic development, enabling them to undertake larger projects to foster growth.

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The statement highlighted that Nigeria’s public debt stock includes both domestic and external debts of the Federal Government, the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory.

This amount represents a notable increase from the N89.43 trillion recorded in September 2023.

The DMO attributed this rise primarily to new domestic borrowings by the government to address deficits in the 2024 Appropriation Act, as well as disbursements from multilateral and bilateral lenders.

Domestic debt accounted for 61% of the total public debt stock, amounting to N59.12 trillion, while external debt stood at N14.3822 trillion, representing 39%.

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The DMO highlighted that Nigeria’s external debt primarily consists of loans from multilateral and bilateral lenders, totaling 63.79%, mostly concessional and semi-concessional.