• Nigeria Incurs N1.22t In Three Months, National Debt Hits N44t
• Excessive Debt Reduces Public Investment Capacity, Limits Private Investment —Oyelaran-Oyeyinka
• Governors Failure To Get Priorities Right Responsible For Rising Debt Stock —Uba
• States’ Helmsmen Unaware Their States Are In Crises — Onwubiko
The rise, in the third quarter of 2022, of the country’s public debt to N1.2 trillion, which also rocketed the nation’s total public indebtedness to N44.06 trillion is driven by new borrowings by the Federal Government to part-finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation Act, alongside new borrowings by sub-nationals.
And as Nigeria groans under the burden of debt servicing, which gulps the lion’s share of the nation’s revenue, the domestic debt outlook in many of the 36 states of the federation, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as confirmed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) is increasingly worrisome.
The DMO’s latest revelation that the total public debt stock rose from N42.84 trillion recorded in Q2 to N44.06 trillion in Q3, 2022, indicated a 2.85 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter, while the country acquired a N1.22 trillion debt within three months.
