Nigeria and other developing countries expended a record $443.5 billion in settling different external and publicly-guaranteed debts in 2022, the World Bank in its latest International Debt Report has revealed.
The report stated that debt-service payments, which comprise of principal and interest, increased by five per cent over the previous year for all developing countries.
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It said the 75 countries eligible to borrow from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which supports the poorest countries, paid $88.9 billion in debt-servicing costs in 2022.
Also interest payments by these countries have quadrupled, to an all-time high of $23.6 billion in from 2012 to 2022.
The report further stated that Overall debt-servicing costs for the 24 poorest countries are expected to balloon in 2023 and 2024—by as much as 39 per cent, the report stated.
