Fresh promissory notes raising national debt – DMO

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Ms Patience Oniha, has said promissory notes, budget deficit and constant borrowing have led to an increase in public debt.

She said this while speaking on Wednesday on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme.

While expressing her concern about the rising debt, she stressed the need for higher revenue in order to cut down the high debt-service-to-revenue ratio.

Oniha said, “I should say very clearly that I am concerned. These days, I am more of a revenue advocate. As I said, total public debt to GDP is about the lowest in Africa. Countries like Kenya and Angola have over 60 per cent. If you look at other countries like the US, the UK and Germany, they have over 100 per cent debt to GDP, yet their people are not screaming that debt is too much. That is because there is revenue to support it.”

On what drives the high debt level, the DMO DG noted that budget deficits, fresh loan disbursements, and promissory notes increase the country’s debt stock.

She said, “The debt stock is growing because Nigeria has been running a budget deficit for many years. In good and bad times, we have borrowed. We have been running budget deficits, and those deficits are funded, 85 to 95 per cent, from borrowing.

“The other aspect, we have contracted several loans in the past and disbursements are going on, which add to it. The third part, which we must not forget, is that the government has been issuing promissory notes to settle obligations, for which it doesn’t really have the revenue or cash. That is why the debt stock has been growing. It is a combination of all of that.”

Oniha advises the government to work on boosting its revenue and reducing its expenditures.

Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N46.25tn or $103.11bn in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to recent data from the DMO.

The debt consists of the domestic and external total debt stocks of the Federal Government and the sub-national governments (36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory).

In terms of composition, total domestic debt stock was N27.55tn ($61.42bn), while total external debt stock was N18.70tn ($41.69bn).

According to DMO, the comparative figure of public debt as of December 31, 2021, was N39.56tn or $95.77bn.

This means the country’s debt increased by N6.69tn or $7.34bn within one year.

The PUNCH recently reported that the total budget deficit under the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was set to hit N47.43tn, according to an analysis of the Federal Government’s data from the Budget Office of the Federation.