MARKET NEWS

Nigeria’s total public debt reached its highest on record last year as a weaker naira inflated dollar-denominated borrowings even as overall debt rose as the government needed cash to plug the federal budget deficit.

The country’s debt stock soared 48.6 percent to N144.6 trillion as of the end of 2024 compared to N97.3 trillion in 2023, data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) released on Friday showed.

In dollar terms, however, Nigeria’s debt shrank, declining by 12.9 percent to $94.2 billion in 2024 from $108.2 billion in 2023, signalling the impact of the naira devaluation on the debt stock.

The external debt stock increased by 83.89 percent from N38.2 trillion ($42.50 billion) in December 2023 to N70.29 trillion ($45.78 billion) in December 2024.

Domestic debt also rose by 25.7 percent from N59.1 trillion at the end of December 2023 to N74.38 trillion in December 2024.

The trend indicates that the government relied more on domestic borrowings to finance budget and infrastructural projects as it accounted for 51.4 percent of total debt profile, with the FGN taking N70.4 trillion and state governments accounting for N3.9 trillion as their debts.

As of December 2024, external debt made up 48.59 percent of Nigeria’s total public debt, while domestic debt accounted for 51.41 percent, indicating a relatively balanced debt structure.