By Milcah Tanimu
A recent analysis of Nigeria’s public debt stock, conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics, has revealed that each Nigerian citizen now carries a debt burden of N396,376.19 per capita.
The NBS report indicates that the country’s total public debt surged by a staggering 75.27 percent, escalating from N49.85 trillion in the first quarter of 2023 to N87.38 trillion at the close of the second quarter of the same year. In absolute terms, this represents a monumental increase of N37.53 trillion in just three months.
The calculation of debt stock per capita was computed by dividing the nation’s overall public debt by its estimated population, which is approximately 220.4 million, according to the World Poverty Clock.
Breaking down the debt categories, the federal government’s external debt amounted to N29.9 trillion, while the combined external debts of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory reached N3.35 trillion.
On the domestic front, the federal government’s domestic debt stood at N48.31 trillion, while the states and the Federal Capital Territory accumulated a domestic debt of N5.82 trillion.
The public debt also includes the N22.71 trillion “Ways and Means Advances” extended by the Central Bank of Nigeria to the federal government. Additionally, the debt stock incorporates fresh borrowings by the federal government and sub-national entities from both domestic and foreign sources.
“Ways and Means Advances” refer to situations in which the federal government borrows from the Central Bank of Nigeria to meet short-term emergency financial needs. According to Section 38 of the CBN Act, such loans should not exceed five percent of the country’s actual revenue from the previous year. It’s noteworthy that the CBN has been criticized for violating this act by lending the previous government the sum of $49.2 billion.
As of the end of June 2023, the NBS reported that domestic debt amounted to N54.13 trillion ($70,264.58 million), while external debt reached N33.25 trillion ($43,159.19 million).
When breaking down domestic debt by states, Lagos State emerged with the highest domestic debt in Q2 2023, totaling N996.44 billion, followed by Delta State with N465.40 billion. Conversely, Jigawa State recorded the lowest domestic debt at N43.13 billion, with Kebbi State closely following at N60.94 billion.
