Buhari To Borrow Fresh N12 Trillion, Public Debt To Hit N50
The Federal Government hopes to push its public debt stock to N50.22 trillion by 2023, with domestic debt at N28.75 trillion and external debt at N21.47 trillion.
This is according to the projections in the National Development Plan 2021-2025. The Debt Management Office had disclosed that Nigeria’s public debt was N38 trillion as of the end of the third quarter of 2021, with the total debt stock rising by N2.540 trillion in three months from July to September 2021.
This shows that the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), plans to accumulate about N12 trillion debt in two years from 2021 to 2023.
However, based on the plan, the government targets a reduction in total public debt by 2025. A tabular illustration in the document showed that the government targets N39.59 trillion debt stock for 2021, N46.63 trillion for 2022, N50.22 trillion for 2023, N50.53 trillion for 2024, and N45.96 trillion by 2025.
The government also discloses that it needs money to finance the plan of N348.1 trillion, and the borrowing framework in the plan is 45 per cent each for both foreign and domestic borrowing.
The plan read in part, “The plan will require an investment of about N348.1 trillion to achieve the plan objectives within the period of 2021-2025.
It is estimated that the government capital expenditure during the period will be N49.7 trillion (14 per cent) while the balance of N298.3 trillion (86 per cent) will be incurred by the Private Sector. Of the 14 per cent, government contribution, FGN capital expenditure will be N29.6 trillion (9 per cent) while the sub-national governments’ capita.
“The borrowing framework in the plan is 45 per cent each for both foreign and domestic borrowing while the other financing sources account for 10 per cent. Domestic bonds and concessional external loan financing, amongst others, will account for the borrowing strategies for the plan. Thus, the government will improve on current debt management strategies to ensure sustainability.”
