Business

Why Nigeria’s Debt Is Rising – Debt Management Office

Published

3 years ago

May 14, 2023

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says decades of operating budget deficits by successive governments is responsible for Nigeria’s high debt profile.

The Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, said this to Newsmen in Abuja.

According to Oniha, a review of Nigeria’s fiscal data shows that not only has the government operated budget deficits which have been growing, but most of the deficits have been funded through local and external borrowing.

“The records show that deficits in the annual budgets, including supplementary budgets rose to N10.78 trillion in 2023 from N1.62 trillion in 2015.

“Between 82 per cent and 99 per cent of these were funded by new borrowing which ranged from N1.46 trillion in 2015 to N8.80 trillion in 2023.

“These facts confirm that these budget deficits, funded by new borrowings, have been responsible for the rapid growth in the debt stock and the resultant increases in debt service,” she said.

According to Oniha, this trend could have been avoided or at least moderated if revenues had been higher or expenditures lower.

She tasked the incoming government of Sen. Bola Tinubu to take cognisance of the situation and prioritise increased revenue generation.

“The budget deficits would have been much smaller, or Nigeria would have operated on a balanced budget.

“It is therefore imperative that the incoming government takes into account the perennial budget deficits in the preparation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (2024 – 2026) and the 2024 budget.

“The government should also accelerate the growth in revenues to ensure debt sustainability,” she said.

Nigeria’s debt profile stood at N46.25 trillion in Dec. 2022, recording an increase of about seven trillion Naira from the 2021 debt figures.

Total Public debt stock, however, consists of the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory.

In terms of composition, total domestic debt stock is N27.55 trillion ($61.42 billion) while total external debt stock is N18.7 trillion (41.6 billion dollars).

The public debt figures, however, exclude the N22.7 trillion Federal Government’s indebtedness to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), through Ways and Means advances.

The Ways and Means advances, which has been securitised by the Senate, and presently awaiting concurrent securitisation by the House of Representatives before it is included in the country’s public debt stock.

Business

Naira Records Second Consecutive Depreciation Against US Dollar

Published

19 hours ago

November 12, 2025

Editor

The Naira recorded its second consecutive depreciation against the United States dollar at the foreign exchange market on Tuesday to continue the bearish trend this week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s data showed that the Naira further weakened on Tuesday to N1,438.71 against the dollar, down from N1,437.2933 exchanged on Monday.

This means that the Naira again dropped by N1.42 against the dollar on Tuesday on a day-to-day basis.

At the black market, the Naira remained flat at N1465 per dollar on Tuesday, the same rate traded on Monday.

This is the second consecutive decline of Nigerian currency at the official market since the commencement of this week.

Meanwhile, the country’s external reserves had continued to rise, standing at $43.37 billion as of Monday, 10th November 2025, up from $43.35 billion on November 7.

Business

Tinubu Approves 15% Import Duty On Petrol, Diesel

Published

2 weeks ago

October 30, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has approved a 15 percent ad-valorem import duty on diesel and premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.

This was announced in a letter dated October 21, 2025, where the private secretary to the president, Damilotun Aderemi, conveyed Tinubu’s approval to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

Tinubu gave his approval, following a request by the FIRS to apply the 15 percent duty on the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) to align import costs to domestic realities.

With the approval, the implementation of the import duty will increase a litre of petrol by an estimated N99.72 kobo.

The latest development has led to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announcing that it has begun a detailed review of the country’s three petroleum refineries, with a view to bringing them back online.

NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Bayo Ojulari, made the announcement in a post on his official X handle on Wednesday night.

According to Ojulari, one of the options being explored by the NNPCL is to search for technical equity partners to ‘high-grade or repurpose’ the facilities.

Tagged: “Update on Our Refineries”, Ojulari said: “The NNPCL continues to remain optimistic that the refineries will operate efficiently, despite current setbacks.”

It can be recalled that despite spending about $3 billion on revamping the refineries, only the 60,000 barrels per day portion of the facility worked skeletally for just a few months before packing up.

The Warri refinery has remained ineffective weeks after it was gleefully announced to have returned to production, while the one situated in Kaduna State never took off at all.

Business

NNPCL Raises Fuel Price

Published

1 month ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the pump price of petrol from ₦865 to ₦992 per litre, marking a fresh hike that has sparked widespread concern among motorists and consumers .

As of the time of filing this report, the company has not released any official statement explaining the reason for the sudden adjustment.

During visits to several NNPC retail outlets, The Nation observed fuel attendants recalibrating their pumps to reflect the new price.

At NNPC filling station on Ogunusi road, Ojodu Berger, petrol attendants at the station said they were instructed to change the price to reflect the new rate N992 per litre.

However, checks at Ibafo along the Lagos /Ibadan expressway showed that NNPC outlets still displayed the old price of N875 per litre, although they were not selling to commuters.

Most of the NNPC stations were not dispensing fuel.