The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has raised alarm that Nigeria’s total Public Debt Stock as of June 30, 2022 at N42.84trillion poses with clear signs of economic dangers ahead for the country.
Citing an example, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Monday on the Increasing Role of Private Creditors in Nigeria’s Debt crisis and its human costs said there is little left to wonder as to how the Health budget which makes up 5.75 percent of the 2023 budget will be financed, especially as the devaluation of the naira continues to impact heavily on the debt servicing burden.
Auwal said there are implications for this rising debt stock in Nigeria with total external debts amounting to about $40billion and a private credit composition of $15.9billion which represents 39.8 percent of total external debt stock .
According to him, with the refusal of private creditors to embrace debt relief initiatives, the Nigerian government will continue to spend a significant part of its budget to service loans to private creditors under very stringent conditions, including high interest rates.
He said has drastically reduced due commitment to more critical socio-economic sectors like Health and Education.
