Nigeria’s public debt stock increases to N97.34trn in Q4 2023 – NBS

By Abiodun OBA

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s public debt stock increased from N87.91 trillion (114.35 billion dollars) in the third quarter of 2023 to N97.34 trillion (108.23 billion dollars) in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In its Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt Report for Q4 2023, released in Abuja NBS reported Nigeria’s public debt stock, which included external and domestic debt, grew by 10.73 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

According to the report, external debt stood at N38.22 trillion (42.50 billion dollars) in Q4 2023, while domestic debt was N59.12 trillion (65.73 billion dollars).

“However, the share of external debt to total public debt stood at 39.26 per cent in Q4 2023, while domestic debt was recorded at 60.74 per cent.’’

In a breakdown by state, the bureau said that Lagos State recorded the highest domestic debt of N1.05 trillion in Q4 2023, followed by Delta with N373.41 billion.

The report showed Jigawa recorded the lowest domestic debt at N42.76 billion, followed by Kebbi at N60.69 billion.

In addition, it stated that Lagos State recorded the highest external debt with 1.24 billion dollars, followed by Kaduna State with 587.07 million dollars.

“Borno recorded the lowest external debt with 20.49 million dollars, followed by Yobe with 21.49 million dollars,” the NBS stated.