Nigeriaâs external debt is now $42 billion as of June 2024.Â
Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows that the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, account for 11% of the loans, at $4.89 billion, and the federal governmentâs debt is $38 billion.
The countryâs multilateral debt is $17.13 billion, while bilateral debt, including those from China EXIM Bank, Jika, KWF, IsDB, and AFD, is $5.49 billion.
About $15.12 billion of the debts are commercial Eurobonds and diaspora bonds.
Data shows that as of March 2024, Nigeriaâs external debt stood at $42.12 billion, with Lagos state leading other states with $1.2 billion, while Kaduna comes next with $640.99 million. The state with the most external debt is Edo, with $380.97 million.
However, the total domestic debt owed by the 36 states and FCT has hit N4.27 trillion, with Lagos state topping the chat with N885.99 billion.
Rivers follows with N389.2 billion, while Delta is third with N304.54 billion.
Jigawa owes the least domestic debt at N1.82 billion. Ondo owes N15.1 billion in domestic debt, while Kebbi recorded N15.46 billion in domestic debt.
Jigawaâs figures indicate that its debt was slashed by N254.97 million from N2.1 billion as of March 2024 to N1.82 billion recorded at the end of June.
Ondo continued the trend with a decreased domestic debt stock at N1.3 billion to N15.1 billion from N16.4 billion in March.
The decline in Ondoâs debt level is the same as Kebbi, which reduced its debt stock from N17.06 billion to N15.46 billion, a drop of N1.6 billion.
Conversely, Nigeria’s total domestic debt stood at N4.07 trillion, with the states increasing their borrowing by N198.96 billion, representing about a five per cent rise in three months.
The DMO data shows that Lagos owed about N929.41 billion in March, increasing its debt stock by N43.42 billion in three months.
Rivers experienced a similar trend, with increased debt stock from N232.58 billion to N389.2 billion.
Guardian reports that in March 2024, the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared N1.12 trillion to the three levels of government, with the federal government getting N345.89 billion, states N389.69 billion, and N288.69 billion shared by the local governments.
Oil-producing states received about N90.124 billion from the FAAC funds.
The 36 states kept increasing their debt levels despite FAAC allocations.
However, Delta State was an exemption between March and June as it reduced its debt profile by nine per cent from N334.9 billion to N304.64 billion as of June 2024.
Taraba state witnessed the highest debt increases, adding N52.64 billion to its debt stock from N32.64 billion in March to N84.72 billion at the end of June 2024.
