Nigeria’s Debt To Peak At N45tn In 2022

The Debt Management Office of Nigeria has predicted that the total debt stock of the country is likely to reach N45 trillion as the agency plans to borrow an additional N6.39tn to finance the 2022 budget deficit.

According to a document, the Director-General, DMO, Patience Oniha, explained that the overall deficit in the 2022 budget was N6.30tn, representing 3.46 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

Recalled that the DMO had earlier revealed that the country’s total debt stock as of December 2021 was N39.55tn.

Oniha said that the budget deficit was to be financed mainly by borrowings from both domestic and foreign sources, as well as privatisation proceeds.

“N2.57tn will come from domestic sources, N2.57tn from foreign sources, N1.16tn from multilateral and bilateral loan drawdowns and N90.7bn from privatisation proceeds,’’ she said.

The DG said that the 2022 aggregate Federal Government spending was projected at N17.1tn, which is 18 per cent higher than the 2021 budget.

“Recurrent (non-debt) spending, estimated to amount to N6.9tn, is 40 percent of total expenditure and 20 per cent higher than the 2021 budget.

“Aggregate capital spending of N5.96tn is 35 percent of total expenditure,’’ she said.

She added that debt service in the 2022 budget was N3.6tn, making it 21 per cent of total expenditure and 34 per cent of total revenue.

“Provision to retire maturing bonds of N270.7bn to local contractors is 1.6 percent of total expenditure.

“This provision is in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to offset accumulated arrears of contractual obligation dating back over a decade,’’ she said.