Nigeria’s total debt rises to N22.38 trillion

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released the Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt report for the second quarter of 2018.

The report which analyses Nigeria’s total debt stock as at the end of Q2 2018 shows that Nigeria’s total debt stock (36 States and Federal Government debt) stood at $73.21 billion (N22.38trn) in Q2 2018, compared to $74.28 billion (N22.71 trillion) in the first quarter of the year.

According to the NBS report, Nigeria’s commercial and industrial capital, Lagos State, retained its position as the most externally indebted state in the country with $1.45 billion, as at the period ending June 2018.

The NBS report also shows that Nigeria’s total external debt stock stood at $22.08 billion (N6.75 trillion) in the period under review. This shows a quarter on quarter debt growth of 0.05% from $22.07 billion in the period ending March 2018. The total external debt earlier stood at $18.91 billion as at December 2017.

Out of Nigeria’s total foreign debt of $22.08 billion as at the end of June 2018, Federal Government accounts for $17.83 billion, which is 80.76% of the total foreign debt stock. The 36 states and the FCT account for the remaining 19.24% of the nation’s total foreign debt portfolio, with a joint debt of $4.25 billion.

Meanwhile, the report equally indicates that Nigeria’s total domestic debts as at June 2018 were N15.63 trillion ($51.12 billion). This shows a quarter on quarter growth of 24.24% from N12.58 trillion in Q1 2018.

The 36 states and FCT accounted for N3.47 trillion ($11.37 billion), while the Federal Government was responsible for N12.12 trillion ($39.75 billion).

The breakdown of the total debt portfolio of states show that although, Lagos State still tops other states, its external debt reduced from $1.47 billion at the end of the last quarter of 2017 to $1.45 billion in June 2018.

The report indicates that Edo State is next to Lagos with an external debt stock of $279 million as at the end of the period ending June 2018 while Kaduna was third with $232.97 million.

Other high externally indebted states as at Q2 2018 include Cross River ($193.7 million), Bauchi ($134.9 million), Enugu ($127.9 million), and Anambra ($107.4 million). The document also listed other top external debtors to be Oyo ($106.34 million), Ogun ($105.3 million), and Osun ($101.5 million).

Meanwhile, the DMO also shows that Taraba State has the lowest foreign debt portfolio in Nigeria, as at the period ending June 2018 with $22.1 million, followed by Borno State with $22.1 million. Other low externally indebted states at the end of the period under review are Yobe ($28.4 million), Plateau ($29.6 million), and Kogi with a foreign debt stock of $32.37 million.

Out of Nigeria’s total external debt of $22.08 billion, as the end of the second quarter of 2018, only 40% are commercial loans which comprise of the $8.8 billion Eurobonds and Diaspora Bonds incurred solely incurred by the Federal Government.

Federal Government’s domestic debt stock as at the end of Q2 2018 consists of the following instruments:

FGN Bonds of N8.93 trillion made up 73.47% of the domestic debt stock, while Treasury Bills of 2.95 trillion made up 24.31%.

Green Bonds amounted to N10.69 billion out of the total domestic debt, while FGN Sukuk was N100 billion.

A total amount of N150 billion was sourced from Nigerian Treasury Bonds, while N8.52 billion was borrowed from FGN Savings Bond.