Loveth Okoli
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has explained that the published debt stock for Nigeria is not for the Federal Government alone.
The Director-General of DMO, Mrs Patience Oniha, on her twitter handle said that the debt stock included those of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She explained that the increased level of borrowings by the Federal Government since 2015 was occasioned by the decline in revenue generation.
She added that the level of borrowings, which had been on the decline since 2018 had to increase again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“First, it is useful to state that the Public Debt figures published by the DMO are the Debt Stock of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 36 states and the FCT.
“That is, the Debt is not only that of the Federal Government, state governments and the FCT have all been borrowing.
“At the Federal level, the increased level of borrowing since 2015 was due to the collapse in revenues from crude oil.
“The level of new borrowing started trending downwards from 2018 up to the first 2020 Appropriation Act.
“Unfortunately, the adverse impact of COVID-19 on revenues and increased spending, have resulted in higher levels of borrowing,” she said.
She added that the DMO was using the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) to manage the public debt to ensure sustainability.
She said the DMO would ensure that Nigeria’s public debt was sustainable and that borrowing was done at the lowest possible cost.
She added that growth in revenues remained a key focus of fiscal authorities.
The total Public Debt as at Dec. 31, 2020 as released by the DMO is N32.915 trillion.
