South-West tops domestic debtors’ list with N1.04trn

The South-West has more domestic debt than other regions of the country.

Statistics obtained from the Debt Management Office showed that the geopolitical zone was exposed to a domestic debt of N1.04tn as of March 31.

The statistics also showed that the six geopolitical zones of the country were exposed to a total domestic debt of N3.97tn as of March 31.

This means that the South-West geopolitical zone of the country accounts for 26.2 percent of the country’s total subnational domestic debt.

The geopolitical zone is made up of six states – Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Lagos and Osun. Lagos, the commercial capital of the country accounts for much of the indebtedness of the zone as it has domestic debt of N542.23bn.

Thus, the state, which is the largest subnational economy in the country, accounts for 51.92 percent of the domestic debt owed by the six states in the South-West.

Osun State with N147.7bn accounts for 14.2 percent of the indebtedness of the South-West region while Ekiti State with N118.01bn accounts for 11.35 per cent of the domestic debt owed by the South-West geopolitical zone.

Ogun State accounts for 9.34 percent of the domestic indebtedness of the region with a total of N97.09bn while Oyo with N94.14bn accounts for 9.03 percent of the domestic debt of the region.

Ondo which has the least domestic debt in the region accounts for 5.48 percent with N56.96bn.

The South-South region has a domestic debt burden of N949.4bn. This accounts for 23.91 percent of the country’s subnational domestic debt.

Among the six states that make up the South-South region, Rivers State has the highest domestic debt. It has a domestic debt of N225.59bn and therefore accounts for 23.76 percent of the regional domestic debt.

Delta State with N233.44bn accounts for 23.53 percent of the domestic debt burden of the region. Akwa Ibom with N199.77bn accounts for 21.04 percent while Cross River with N167.25bn accounts for 17.62 percent.

Bayelsa State with N133.34bn accounts for 14.04 percent while Edo State, the least indebted state in the region accounts for 9.1 percent of the domestic debt commitment of the South-South region.

The North-Central region comprising Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and Benue States as well as the Federal Capital Territory has a domestic debt burden of N648.63bn, accounting for 16.34 per cent of the country’s subnational domestic debt.