FG owes 79% of N20tr domestic debts, as Lagos leads states

The Debt Management Office says the federal government owes 79 per cent of the N20 trillion domestic debt profile as of September 2020.

The FG has N15.846tr as its domestic debt while Lagos state leads with a huge chunk of the N4.19tr owed by the states.

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DMO has said Nigeria’s debt profile climbed to N32trn in September.

N12tr is for outstanding external debt while N20tr is for domestic debt of the federal government, FCT and the 36 states.

Analysis

Analysis of the federal government domestic debt shows that bonds account for N11.65tr, treasury bills occupy N2.7tr while promissory Note is N971.9 billion. The rest are Treasury bonds, N100,9bn; Savings bond, 12.5bn; Sukuk, N362.6bn; and Green bond, N25.7bn.

The rest of 21 per cent is owed by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which amounts to N4.19tr. of this amount, Lagos is leading the states on the debt list with N493.3bn debt. It is followed by Rivers state with N266.9bn debt, then Akwa Ibom with N239.2bn and Delta with N235.8bn debt.

Other states with high debts are Cross River with N164bn, Ogun with N154bn and Bayelsa with N147bn debt. Yobe has the least debt with N29bn while Jigawa has N36bn debt.

Experts had cautioned the FG and states on dwelling much on debts especially on subscribing to commercial loans of foreign entities like the Eurobond, a facility meant for member countries in Europe, but given on commercial basis to non members to generate more interest.