Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) says the nation’s total public debt rose 3% to $103.3 billion in the second quarter of this year, largely driven by local borrowing to finance the budget deficit.
The public debt increased from $100.07 billion as of March this year to $103.3 billion by the end of June, the DMO said in its latest data on Tuesday.
The debt however makes up 23% of the country’s gross domestic product which is within the government’s self-imposed limit of 40%. Nigeria’s debt repayment costs are rising while revenues are shrinking.
High cost of fuel subsidy , increasing oil theft, declining oil revenue and vandalism of pipelines has deepened Nigeria’s deficit this year. Between January and April, Nigeria expended more to service its debt than it raised as revenue.
