Nigeria repays Chinese, World Bank, other loans

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that the Nigerian government paid $3.5 billion between January and December 2023.

According to the DMO, commercial loans accounted for 55% or $1.92 billion in service costs during the period under review.

The debt servicing was followed by multilateral debt service costs of $1.2 billion or 35%.

Multilateral debts are owed to the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Islamic Development Bank, and the European Development Fund.

Bilateral debt services costs for the period include loans by China Eximbank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the German Agency, which account for 10% of the $344 million.

Between the period of October and December 2023, more than $943 million was paid to service external debts.

Reports indicate that multilateral institutions include the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bank, and the Islamic Development Fund, which accounted for about $552.12 million or 59% of the total external debt service cost for the last quarter of 2023.

Nigeria's debt stock hits a new high record

Commercial loans accounted for 39% of the debt service cost for the quarter at $369.530, while bilateral debt service cost stood at three per cent or $27 million, reports say.

The DMO data disclosed that the country's public debt stock, including debt owed by the federal government, states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), increased every quarter by 10.7% from N87.87 trillion in Q3 2023 to N97.34 trillion in Q4 of last year.

The new debt stock of N97.3 trillion includes domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The development means an increase of N9.43 trillion over the relative figure for September 2023.

The DMO said the increase in the nation’s debt stock is due to a rise in domestic borrowing by the Nigerian government to finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursement by multilateral and bilateral creditors.

“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 per cent of the total public debt stock while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for 39 per cent," DMO stated.

BEB