Federal Government Spends $5.1billion on External Debts Servicing In 12 Months
This comes at a time when the Nigerian government pleaded for debt relief at the United Nations General Assembly.
Areview of international payments data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has showed that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration spent $5.1billion on external debt servicing between June 2023 and July 2024.
This comes at a time when the Nigerian government pleaded for debt relief at the United Nations General Assembly.
The Tinubu-led administration was sworn in on May 29, 2023.
The data review shows that the country paid $54.3 million in June 2023, $641.6 million in July 2023, $309.9 million in August 2023, $439 million in September 2023, $509 million in October 2023, $367.7 million in November 2023 and $65.6 million in December 2023.
In January 2024, the government paid $560 million, $283.2 million in February 2024, $276.1 million in March 2024, $215.2 million in April 2024, $854.3 million in May 2024, $50.8 million in June 2024 and $542.5 million in July 2024.
Nigeria suffers from its heavy reliance on loans, and as of the first quarter of 2024, the country’s loan portfolio stands at N121 trillion.
Vice President, Kashim Shettima who represented President Tinubu at the 79th United Nations General Assembly that held in New York, the United States of America called for a special concession for countries in the global south.
“Countries of the global South cannot make meaningful economic progress without special concessions and a review of their current debt burden,” he had stated.
Experts have worried that Nigeria’s heavy spending on debt servicing will hamper development as monies meant to be spent on development are spent on servicing debt.
Credit / Sahara Reporter
