FG Plans N12trn Fresh Borrowing, Public Debt To Hit N50trn By 2023

The Federal Government intends to further push its public debt stock to N50.22tn by 2023, with domestic debt at N28.75tn and external debt at N21.47tn.

This is in line with the projections in the National Development Plan 2021-2025.

The Debt Management Office had revealed that Nigeria’s public debt was N38trn towards the end of the third quarter of 2021, with the total debt stock increasing by N2.540tn in three months from July to September 2021.

This shows that the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari plans to accumulate about N12tn debt in two years from 2021 to 2023.

The government also added that it needs money to finance the plan of N348.1tn, and the borrowing framework in the plan is 45 percent each for both foreign and domestic borrowing.

The plan partly read, “The plan will require an investment of about N348.1tn to achieve the plan objectives within the period of 2021-2025. It is estimated that the government capital expenditure during the period will be N49.7tn (14 per cent) while the balance of N298.3tn (86 per cent) will be incurred by the Private Sector. Of the 14 per cent, government contribution, FGN capital expenditure will be N29.6tn (9 per cent) while the sub-national governments’ capital.

“The borrowing framework in the plan is 45 per cent each for both foreign and domestic borrowing while the other financing sources account for 10 percent. Domestic bonds and concessional external loan financing, amongst others, will account for the borrowing strategies for the plan. Thus, the government will improve on current debt management strategies to ensure sustainability.”