National debt rises to N10.8tn

 

Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 

The total debt of the Federal Government,   the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory rose from N8.32tn on September 30, 2013 to N10.84tn on September 30, 2014.

This means that the nation’s total debt stock rose by N2.52tn or   30.29 per cent within one year period.

Statistics obtained from the website of the Debt Management Office in Abuja on Monday indicated that the N8.32tn did not include the domestic debt of the states in 2013.

Details of the current debt status of the country showed that the external debts of both the federal and state governments stood at $9.52bn or N1.48tn.

As of September 30, the domestic debt stock of the Federal Government alone stood at $49.12bn or N7.65tn. The domestic debt of states, on the other hand, stood at $10.97bn or N1.71tn.

In comparison, the external debt of both the federal and state governments stood at N1.28tn (or $8.26bn) as of September 30, 2013. Also, the domestic debt of the Federal Government a year ago stood at N7.03tn.

Dissecting the Federal Government’s current domestic debt of N7.65tn by instruments, the Federal Government Bond contributed N4.6tn or 60.12 per cent to the profile; the Nigerian Treasury Bills contributed N2.74tn or 35.76 per cent while Treasury Bonds contributed N315.39bn or 4.12 per cent.

As of June 2014, out of a total external debt of $3.01bn owed by the states, the Lagos State Government owed $1.02bn.

Other major holders of the country’s external sub-national debts include Kaduna State which owes $245.51m and Cross River State, $120.21m. Others are Ogun   $116.69m; Bauchi, $111.61m; and Oyo,   $80.11m.

The states least exposed to foreign debts are Borno, $16.07m; Plateau, $22.99m; Taraba, $24.06m; Delta, $24.7m; and Benue, $28.79m.

However, in comparison to the nation’s total external indebtedness, the states owed 32.13 per cent; leaving the Federal Government with 67.87 per cent.

Loans from China Export Import Bank and monies raised from Eurobond accounted for $2.54bn of the Federal Government’s $6.36bn external debt while multilateral sources accounted for $3.82bn.

As of June 2013, the nation’s total external loan stood at $6.92bn. This means that over a period of one year, the country’s external debt rose by $2.46bn, showing 35.51 per cent increase.

The growth of the nation’s debt stock can be seen in the budget for debt servicing. The Federal Government plans to spend N2.08tn servicing the country’s debt within the next three years.

The figures for debt servicing as well as the county’s debt stock are contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper of the Federal Government.