Nigeria’s public debt stock has surged from N97.34 trillion ($108.23 billion) in Q4 2023 to N121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion) in Q1 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS report, released in Abuja, highlighted a 24.99% quarter-on-quarter increase in the nation’s public debt, which includes both external and domestic debts.
Key highlights from the report:
– External Debt: N56.02 trillion ($42.12 billion)
– Domestic Debt: N65.65 trillion ($49.35 billion)
– Debt Distribution: External debt constitutes 46.05% of the total debt, while domestic debt makes up 53.95%.
State-wise debt breakdown
– Highest Domestic Debt: Lagos State (N929.41 billion) and Delta State (N334.90 billion)
– Lowest Domestic Debt: Jigawa State (N2.07 billion) and Ondo State (N16.40 billion)
Recall that earlier this year, former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently warned that coming generations of Nigerians would bear the brunt of the debt burden that is cripplling Nigeria’s economy.
According to Obasanjo in a statement issued by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, he emphasised that the incompetent management of the country’s resources had ensnared Nigeria in a destructive debt trap.
President Obasanjo made these assertions during an engagement with the 2023 awardees of the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, an initiative of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Christ Embassy Church, that called for a more responsible use of public resources.
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