JamzNG Latest News, Gist, Entertainment in Nigeria
By Ayo Kehinde
The federal government recorded new borrowings of 11.89 trillion naira in the first nine months of 2025, but spent only 3.10 trillion naira on capital projects in the same period, highlighting a widening gap between debt accumulation and infrastructure execution.
This is according to the Third Quarter 2025 Budget Implementation Report released by the Federation Budget Office.
The report showed that total borrowing surpassed the government’s three-quarter projection of 10.34 trillion naira from 1.54 trillion naira, an increase of 14.91%.
However, capital spending performance remained significantly weak.
Of the 17.58 trillion naira allocated for capital projects during the period, only 3.10 trillion naira was utilised, representing only 17.66% of the implementation and leaving a deficit of 14.48 trillion naira.
Data indicates the government has borrowed nearly four times more than it has spent on capital projects, raising concerns about fiscal efficiency and the slow conversion of debt into productive infrastructure.
A breakdown of loans showed that domestic loans amounted to N7.08 trillion, while project-linked multilateral and bilateral loans amounted to N4.81 trillion, far above the N2.52 trillion budgeted for the period.
Despite heavy debt, the report revealed that capital expenditures related to multilateral and bilateral loans saw zero utilization, even though $2.52 trillion was budgeted in that category.
Analysts say the development highlights implementation bottlenecks, delays in project execution and weak absorptive capacity within the public sector.
The surge in lending also comes amid high interest rates, with the Central Bank of Nigeria maintaining the monetary policy rate at 26.5% as part of efforts to contain inflation and stabilize the naira.
Sustained government borrowing may continue to exclude private sector access to credit, while increasing debt service pressures across the economy.
Post views:
52
