Nigeria’s public debt has risen to N32.9 trillion, at the end of December 2020 from N32.2 trillion in September of the same year.
The statement by the Debt Management Office revealed an increase of N700 billion.
The figures include the debt stock of the federal and state governments, as well as, the Federal Capital Territory.
It explained that after Nigeria exited recession in 2017, the level of new borrowing at the federal level as shown in the annual Appropriation Acts, had been declining to moderate the rate of growth in the public debt stock in order to ensure debt sustainability.
It also noted that new borrowing to part finance budget deficits had declined steadily from N2.36tn in 2017 to N2.01tn in 2018, N1.61tn in 2019 and N1.59tn in the first 2020 Appropriation Act.
The trend, it said, was reversed in 2020 due to the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as new borrowing in the revised 2020 Appropriation Act was N4.2tn.
