Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt as a percentage of GDP is 23.06 per cent as of June 30, 2022.
She said it is within the 55 per cent threshold recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank as well as Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent set in the MTDS 2020-2023, even after including the outstanding balance on CBN Ways & Means Advances.
She added that the Target Ratio under the MTDS 2020-2023 is 70:30 and that the Debt Management Office was expecting to achieve the target by end of 2023.
The minister disclosed this at the Ministerial Presentation of the 2023 budget at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters in Abuja.
She further disclosed that the government’s contingent liabilities as a percentage of GDP in 2021 were 2.64 per cent, down from 2.75 per cent in 2020 and expected to be in this area by the end of 2022.
On the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN)Ways and Means, the minister said, the total Ways and Means was currently N20 trillion worth and she had received approval to securitise it.
“The securitisation will be over in a 40-year period with an interest rate of 9 per cent. But over the years, we have been paying the interest component at the current rate that is charged on the Ways and Means.”
She added that the exposure to refinancing risk remained stable as a result of the strategy of issuance of long-dated securities in the domestic and international markets in addition to accessing long-term funds from multilateral and bilateral lenders.
