Buhari Will Leave N77trn Debt Behind By May 29 – DMO

BY COBHAM NSA – From available and incontrovertible statistics, President Muhammadu Buhari is set to leave behind a whopping N77 trillion debt for the incoming administration by his May 29, 2023 exit date.

The breakdown indicates that the debt profile will comprise N44.06 trillion total debt stock as of the third quarter of 2022, N22.7 trillion Ways and Means borrowings from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the projected new borrowings of N10.57 as captured in the 2023 Appropriation Act as well as the issuance of promissory notes.

Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha reeled out the disturbing figures at the “Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Highlights of the 2023 Appropriation Act” in Abuja on Wednesday.

Oniha, who made her intervention during the questions and answers session, said from all indications the new administration will be inheriting about N77 trillion as the country’s total debt from the President Buhari-led government.

According to the DMO chief, the total public debt stock represents the Domestic and External Debt Stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the thirty-six (36) State Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

She explained that if the National Assembly approves the securitisation of the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means debt secured from the CBN, the figure would automatically be included as part of the outstanding public debt.

Offering insights on the debt profile, Ms Oniha said; “You will see a significant increase in public debt to N77 trillion that is if you add the new borrowing depending on market conditions of N5 trillion.

“The other area of the debt stock we are trying to highlight is to say, the debt stock is also growing from the issuance of promissory notes which are not true borrowing as such by the government”.

Furthermore, the DMO Director General said; “While the debt is growing because there is new borrowing, revenue is receiving significant attention”, adding; “Like DMO always says, you can’t talk about debt without talking about revenue. We need the two to work together.”

Defending the President’s request to the National Assembly to approve the securitisation of the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means borrowed from the CBN, Ms Oniha said that it “would significantly reduce the cost of servicing the loan”.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who spoke earlier at the Budget Presentation Forum said: “Nigeria is not planning on restructuring its debt as it remains committed to meeting its domestic and external debt obligations.”

however, she stated that; “The FGN will however continue to utilize appropriate debt management tools to streamline the cost and risk profile in the debt portfolio, including through concessional loans, spreading out of debt maturities to avoid bunching, and re-profiling of the debt maturities by refinancing short term debt using long-term debt instruments”.