With recent string of fresh loans taken by the Federal Government, the nation’s debts now stand at over N30 trillion.
Although, the latest information by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Nigeria’s debts puts the figure at N28.63 trillion as of March 31, 2020, but with recent borrowings, the figure has been pushed above the N30 trillion mark.
Following the crippling effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the Federal Government got a $3.4billion (N1.3trillion) facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May under its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) programme to enable the country meet the urgent balance of payment needs to stem the effect of the pandemic.
Similarly, in June, the World Bank approved a $750 million (N289.5bilion) loan for Nigeria through the International Development Association (IDA) to improve electricity supply in the country.
The government also raised N162.5billion from its third Sukuk issuance in June to fund road projects across the six zones, all of which bring the debt profile to N30.39trillion.
But the likelihood of the debts rising is high as the Senate recently approved the government’s request for additional external borrowings.
The Senate gave its nod for the government to borrow $1.5bn (N579bn) from the World Bank to fund the 2020 revised budget deficit, $500m (N193billion) from the African Development Banks to cushion the effect of COVID-19 and to part-finance the 2020 revised budget deficit; and $113 million (N43.6billion) from the Islamic Development Bank to part-finance the 2020 revised budget deficit.
With the approved loan requests, Nigeria’s debts profile will go above N31trillion.