Nigeria’s debt stock will reach N187.79 trillion this year as the West African country grapples with a rising borrowing cost, naira depreciation and aggressive government borrowing, it has been projected.
This is according to a recent report by Cardinalstone, an investment and research firm which revealed that the country’s debt will reach N153.04 trillion by year-end 2024.
This accumulation in debt profile, according to the report, is fueled by the issuance of a dollar-denominated domestic bond ($900.00 billion), regular borrowings through Nigeria Treasury Bills (NTBs) and bonds, and the country’s recent return to the Eurobond market to raise $2.20 billion.
“We estimate government debt to reach N187.79 trillion in 2025. The sharp rise in government debt has heightened concerns about its sustainability,” the analysts said in their report titled ‘Pressure to Plateau’.
Nigeria’s debt has surged significantly in recent quarters, climbing from N49.85 trillion before the 2023 general elections to N134.30 trillion by the end of the first half of 2024.
This sharp increase primarily reflects the impact of policy-induced Naira depreciation, aggressive government borrowing, and rising borrowing costs.
According to data sourced from the Debt Management Office (DMO), Africa’s fourth largest economy has as much as N63 trillion ($43 billion) as its foreign debt, accounting for 47 percent of the total debt stock as at Q2 2024.
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) took the lion share, borrowing approximately N56 trillion while the 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had N7 trillion as their external debt.
A more cursory look at the data showed that the Nigerian government relied more on domestic borrowings as it accounted for 53 percent of total debt profile with the FGN taking N66 trillion and state governments having N4 trillion as their debts.
