Federal Government and the 36 states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, owed a total N27.4tn as of December 2019, according to latest figures released by Debt Management Office on Wednesday.

The development marked an increase in Nigeria’s public debt portfolio from September 2019, when it was disclosed that the country owed a total of N26.22tn.

The N27.4tn included the total external and domestic debt portfolios of the Federal Government and the states.

Data obtained from the DMO on Wednesday showed that domestic debt amounting to N18.3tn accounted for 67.07 per cent of the total debt stock.

The Federal Government’s share of the domestic debt portfolio was N14.2tn, or 52.09 per cent, while the states and FCT owed N4.1tn or 14.99 per cent.

The country’s total external debt was 9.02tn, which made up 32.93 per cent of the total debt portfolio.

Out of the total external debt sum, the Federal Government owe N7.5tn, which amounted to 27.50 per cent, while the states and the FCT owe N1.4tn, about 5.43 per cent of the total debt portfolio.

DMO explained that the CBN official exchange rate of US$1 to N326 as of December 31, 2019, was used in converting the domestic debts to dollars.

As of September 2018, the Federal Government, the states and the FCT owed a total of N25.7tn.

Punch