Uche Usim, Abuja
Nigeria’s total public debt, comprising the federal government, 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as at September 2019, stands at N26.215 trillion.
The Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha made the disclosure at a press briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
According to her, the comparative figure for June 2019 was N25.701 trillion, which implies that in the quarter July to September 2019, the total public debt grew by 2.0%.
The DMO boss also stated that the total public debt as at September 2019 includes promissory notes in the amount of N821.65 billion which had been issued to settle the FG’s arrears to oil marketing companies and state governments under the promissory programme approved by the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly.
“The ratio of domestic debt to external debt at 69:31 was about the same as at June 2019 of 68:32 compared to the target of 60:40 in the medium-term debt strategy. The ratio of long term to short term debt in the domestic debt was 80:20 which shows that the target of 75:25 had been outperformed.
“Similarly, total debt as a percentage of GDP was 18.47% as at September 2019 was well within the limit of 25% and fares better in comparison with the debt/GDP ratios of countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom and Canada with ratios of 105%, 85% and 90% respectively for the same period.
“However, because they generate adequate revenues, their debt service/revenue ratios for the same period were much lower at 12.5%, 7.5% and 7.5% respectively when compared to Nigeria’s 51% in 2017”, she explained.