Patience Oniha, DMO’s director-general, stated this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
She also cleared up certain misunderstandings regarding the recently released update on the nation’s overall debt profile.
The N24.33 trillion increase in the debt stock, according to her, was also caused by the securitisation of N4.90 trillion as part of the securitisation of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means advances approved by the National Assembly.
She claims that in addition, there is the interest rate and N2.81 trillion in fresh borrowing, which is included in the N6.06 trillion allocated for the 2024 budget.
Oniha emphasised that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the thirty-six states’ external and domestic debt were included in the debt stock.
She said:
According to Oniha, the N24.33 trillion increase in naira between the first and fourth quarters of 2024 and 2023 respectively did not technically equate to additional borrowing.
She also said at $42.50 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $42.12 billion in the first quarter of 2024, the overall stock of external debt was essentially unchanged.
Oniha added:
She claimed that compared to earlier reports, the debt report was somewhat better under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
She also said the debt is reasonable and within the typical range if the FX impact is taken into account.
While promising that the numerous initiatives to attract foreign exchange inflows will build external reserves and maintain the Naira exchange rate, she urged the federal government to prioritize fiscal austerity.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that the Nigerian government spent $2.19 billion to repay foreign debts to countries and financial institutions.
This was 90% higher than the $1.12 billion recorded in the same period in 2023.
A breakdown of the data showed that the debt service payments were recorded from January to May 2024.
Proofreading by James Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
