According to DMO, N2.93 trillion was spent in 2021 on payments for servicing both domestic and foreign debt. Remember that the DMO had previously said that as of December 2022, the total stock of debt in Nigeria was N46.25 trillion. At the current exchange rate of $/N460, a study of DMO revealed that the nation spent $2.4 billion, or N1.07 trillion, to service its external debt last year.
In 2022, N2.56 trillion was spent on repaying domestic debt, with April seeing the highest costs of N529.88 billion. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry responded by expressing concern over the debt load of the nation, particularly in light of the country’s stunted revenue growth, the prevalence of extensive deteriorating infrastructure, and the unsustainable cost of oil subsidy overhang.
Also, The International Monetary Fund warned that debt servicing might gulp 100 per cent of the Federal Government’s revenue by 2026 if the government fails to implement adequate measures to improve revenue generation.
