Each Nigerian Now Owes 159,631 Naira as Nigeria’s National Debt Stock Rise to N32.9 Trillion

According to World Poverty Clock, Debt per capita is calculated as the total public debt of a country divided by the country’s population. Nigeria’s population is estimated to be 209 million.

Currently, each Nigerian currently owes an estimated N159,631 with respect to National debt incurred by the federal government of Nigeria.

Reports from the Debt Management Office suggests that Nigeria’s total debt stock rose from N32.9tn as of December 2020 to N39.6tn in November 2021.

Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning explained during her 2022 budget presentation that the federal government borrowed N6.7 trillion between January and November 2021.

According the document presented by Mrs Zainab, new borrowing in the subject period consists of N5.1tn domestic debt and N1.6tn. however, the domestic debt includes borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Concurrently, in March 2021, the Debt Management Office revealed Nigeria’s total public debt stock was N32.9tn as at December 2020.

In accordance to the DMO office, Nigeria’s total debt increased by N33.1tn at the end of the first quarter of 2021. In Q2 2021, the total debt stock rose by N2.4tn to N35.5tn by June 2021. The rise further continued by N2.5tn to hit N38tn by Q3 2021.

Notably, the DMO’s presentation indicated a N1.6tn increase in debt stock from September to November 2021.

Mrs Zainab preserved the FG’s reason for the consistent borrowing stating that the Nigerian economy experiences revenue deadlock and she further reiterated that the debt level is within feasible limits.

her words, “This is to restate, that the debt level of the Federal Government is still within sustainable limits. Borrowings are essentially for capital expenditure and human development as specified in Section 41(1)a of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

“Having witnessed two economic recessions we have had to spend our way out of recession, which contributed significantly to the growth in the public debt.  “It is unlikely that our recovery from each of the two recessions would have been as fast without the sustained government expenditure funded partly by debt.”