Debt servicing doubles, hits N896bn in three months, DMO report says

Findings show that Nigeria’s debt servicing bill has increased by 109 per cent to N896.56 billion.

Data obtained from Debt Management Office, showed that as the result of the development, Nigeria had in 15 months spent N3.83tn on debt servicing payments.

In 2021, a total of N2.93tn was spent on debt servicing payments while a total of N896.56bn was spent in the first quarter of 2022.

This is even as, between October and December 2021, Nigeria spent N310.5bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $286.35m (N118.9bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N429.4bn.

However, between January and March 2022, Nigeria spent N668.69bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $548.79m (N227.87bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N896.56bn.

The official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which showed $1 =N415.22 as of June 15, 2022, was used for the external debt servicing.

This shows the amount the country spent on debt servicing rose by 109 per cent from N429bn in December 2021 to N896bn in March 2022.

Nigeria’s debt position worsened in the first quarter of this year as the country’s debt stock rose by N2.04trn to hit N41.60tn from the N39.56tn recorded as of December 2021.

Between January and March 2021, Nigeria had spent N612.71bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $1bn (N415.22bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.03tn.

From April to June 2021, the country spent N322.7bn on domestic debt servicing and $299m (N124.15bn) on external debt servicing, showing a total of N446.85bn.

From July to September 2021, Nigeria spent N808.49bn on domestic debt servicing and $520.78m (N216.24bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.02tn.