The overall domestic debt stock could have increased by 133.95 percent to N51.96 trillion by the end of 2023.
This is based on new information provided by Patience Oniha, Director-General of the Debt Management Office.
She revealed to CNBC Africa on the sidelines of discussions in Abuja for the establishment of the African Debt Managers Initiative Network, which is spearheaded by the African Development Institute of the African Development Bank, that the Federal Government had raised N7.04 trillion in total new domestic borrowing in 2023.
Oniha said, “I am happy to say that in 2023, the new domestic borrowing was N7.04tn, and as we speak that has been raised in full. So, I don’t need to explain how we raised it, but it has been raised. When you compare it to the N3.5tn of last year. It tells you that the market has debt for us to raise money.”
As of the end of end of December 2022, Nigeria’s total domestic debt was N22.21tn. This increased significantly by the end of June to N48.32tn.
Defending the jump, DMO explained that the major addition to the public debt stock was the inclusion of the N22.71tn securitised FGN’s Ways and Means Advances, which was reflected in domestic borrowings.
According to The PUNCH’s analysis, the total domestic borrowings outside of the securitised Ways and Means Advances would have been N25.60tn (signifying that that total new domestic borrowing at the time was N3.39tn). Since the government’s total domestic borrowing for 2023 amounted to N7.04tn, The PUNCH added total domestic debt as of the end of December 2022 (N22.21tn) with new borrowing for the year (N7.04tn), and securitised Ways and Means Advances (N22.71tn) which amounted to N51.96tn.
