Economy

CBN And Other Nigerians Are Biggest Lenders To FG As Public Debt Hits $151bn

Published

1 year ago

November 16, 2022

As of June this year, Nigeria’s public debt has reached $151 billion, and most of the creditors are Nigerians. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reveals that Nigeria’s total public debt is estimated at $151 billion as of June this year.

Nigerian government owes CBN N22 trillion The debt is relative to the $103.3 billion reported by the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The contrast between the CBN’s estimate is a gapping N20 trillion, about $48 trillion in Ways and Means lending to the Nigerian government, which increased to N22 trillion as of September 2022, as per multiple reports.

The CBN’s Ways and Means is not classified by DMO as part of Nigeria’s public debt despite plans to convert it to a 100-year bond. The Nigerian government is indebted to several both domestic and foreign creditors.

Domestic debts comprise FGN securities, treasury bills, and recently, CBN’s Ways and Means. Nigeria owes bilateral debts on the foreign scene and multilateral institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The Nigerian government borrows money from Nigeria by issuing bonds to the domestic market in naira. The bonds are also shown on the Nigerian Exchange or the FMDQ, where traders can buy them. Nigeria owes N26.3 trillion in domestic debt, with states owing N5.2 trillion.

The debts are in FGN Bonds, State Bonds, Sukuk Bonds, Treasury Bills and Green Bonds. Other sources of foreign debts Other sources of Nigeria’s debt include Eurobonds at $15.6 billion, accounting for 36 per cent of the external debt, World Bank and IMF at $13 billion and 3.2 billion, respectively.

The federal government owes AfDB $2.8 billion in loans. The top five country creditors include China at $3.94 billion, accounting for 83.5 per cent of the total debt to foreign countries. The country is Nigeria’s single largest creditor in the world. Other creditors account for $50.5 billion and are owed to pension funds, banks, mutual funds, companies, and collective investment schemes.