Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) has said that the country’s total debt profile as of December 31, 2018 stands at N24.387tn (about $79.967 billion).
It noted that the figure swelled by 12.25 percent from N21.725tn in 2017 to N24.39tn in 2018.
According to the DMO, the debt rose by N2.66tn from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018.
The report by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper on Friday stated that the country’s public debt rose from N21.73tn in 2017 to N24.39tn within the one year period.
It added that the year-on-year growth of public debt showed a 12.25 percent within the one year period.
Speaking on the country’s debt profile, the Director General of the DMO, MS. Patience Oniha, told journalists at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja that the funds were borrowed to fund projects, to finance budget deficit and to refinance maturing obligations.
She explained that some foreign debt was used to refinance treasury bills because of the short tenor of the bills and that borrowing from abroad had also helped to stabilise the local currency in the last two years.
Oniha noted that the Federal Government’s domestic debt stock included N331.12bn Promissory Notes issued to oil marketing companies and state governments in December 2018.
According to her, some targets that had been set in the country’s Debt Management Strategy had been achieved or nearly achieved. ($1=N305)
GIK/APA