Nigeria’s debt servicing bill has increased by 109% to N896.56bn, findings. As a result, the country has also spent N3.83tn on debt servicing payments in 15 months, according to data got from the Debt Management Office. While N2.93tn spent on debt servicing payments in 2021, N896.56bn was spent in the first quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, between October and December 2021, Nigeria spent N310.5bn on domestic debt servicing. While it spent $286.35m (N118.9bn) on external debt servicing, giving N429.4bn. However, between January and March 2022, Nigeria spent N668.69bn on domestic debt servicing. While it spent $548.79m (N227.87bn) on external debt servicing, giving N896.56bn.
The official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which showed $1 =N415.22 as of June 15, 2022, was used for the external debt servicing. This shows the amount the country spent on debt servicing rose by 109% from N429bn in December 2021 to N896bn in March 2022.
Nigeria’s debt position worsened in the first quarter of this year as the country’s debt stock rose by N2.04trn to hit N41.60tn. This is from the N39.56tn recorded as of December 2021. Speaking at the launch of the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update titled ‘The urgency for business unusual,’ held recently in Abuja.
The IMF’s Resident Representative for Nigeria, Ari Aisen, disclosed this while presenting the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook report in Abuja. According to an IMF official, based on a macro-fiscal stress test that was conducted on Nigeria, interest payments on debts may wipe up the country’s entire earnings in the next four years.
-Punch.