Nigeria’s external debt drop by over $1bn as FG successfully repays loans collected under Buhari

The administration to President Bola Tinubu has paid off total external debt collected under the Muhammdu Buhari.

According to the third quarter public debt report published by the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria's external debt stock is now $41.59 billion as of September 30, 2023.

This represents a $1.57 billion decline when compared to $43.16 billion it stood in the month of June 2023.

Why external debt declined?

Also the statement revealed hat the reason for the decline is due to the redemption of Nigeria’s $500 million Eurobonds and the first principal payment of $413.859 million the IMF’s $3.4 billion loan obtained during the 2020 covid-19 period.

It stated “External debt decreased due to a redemption of USD500 million Eurobond and the payment of USD 413.859 as first principal repayment of the USD4.3 billion obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020 during COVID-19″

Here is a breakdown of Nigeria debt balance to countries

China- $4.81 billion

France - $563.17 million

Japan -$55.34 million

India - $23.66 million

Germany - $134.92 million

Nigeria's total Public debt The statement also noted that Nigeria’s total public debt increased marginally from N87.38 trillion at the end of the second quarter to N87.91 trillion ($114.35 billion) as of September 30, 2023.

This represents a rise of just 0.61% within three months

The DMO also stated that the domestic debt stock of the country increased by N1.80 trillion to N50.196 trillion at the end of the third quarter.