DMO: Nigeria’s public debt hits $152.40 trillion in Q2 2025 – THISAGE

Nigeria’s total public debt stock rose to 152.40 trillion naira as of June 30, 2025, reflecting an increase of 3.01 trillion naira in just three months, new data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Saturday revealed.

The figure represents a 2.01% increase from the $149.39 trillion recorded at the end of March 2025, underscoring the federal government’s continued reliance on borrowing to plug fiscal gaps.

In dollar terms, the country’s total debt profile grew from $97.24 billion to $99.66 billion, an increase of 2.49%.

The DMO report indicates that both domestic and external debt increased during the period, with the federal government accounting for the majority of total liabilities.

Nigeria’s external debt rose to $46.98 billion (71.85 trillion naira) by the end of June, up from $45.98 billion (70.63 trillion naira) in March.

The increase reflects continued borrowing by multilateral institutions, particularly the World Bank, which remains the country’s largest foreign creditor.

“The World Bank remained Nigeria’s largest external creditor, with $18.04 billion outstanding, primarily through the International Development Association (IDA), representing approximately 38% of total external obligations,” the DMO report said.

Multilateral lenders, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), collectively accounted for $23.19 billion, or 49.4% of the foreign portfolio.

Bilateral loans amounted to $6.20 billion, led by the Export-Import Bank of China with $4.91 billion, while smaller exposures were owed to France, Japan, India and Germany.

Commercial loans, mainly Eurobonds, amounted to $17.32 billion, accounting for 36.9% of external debt, while syndicated loans and other trade facilities amounted to $268.9 million..

Domestically, total debt rose to $80.55 trillion in June, up from $78.76 trillion in March – an increase of $1.79 trillion or 2.27%

The portfolio was dominated by federal government securities, which amounted to 60.65 trillion naira, or 79.2% of total domestic debt.

This figure includes N36.52 trillion naira-denominated bonds, N22.72 trillion Ways and Means advances securitized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and N1.40 trillion dollar bonds.

Other instruments included Treasury bills worth N12.76 trillion (16.7%), Sukuk bonds worth N1.29 trillion, savings bonds worth N91.53 billion, green bonds worth N62.36 billion and bills of exchange totaling N1.73 trillion.

The securitization of the CBN’s Ways and Means loans – effectively converting overdrafts into long-term debt – highlights ongoing fiscal pressures, even as the Tinubu administration pushes to impose monetary discipline and restore investor confidence.

According to the DMO, the Federal Government accounted for 141.08 trillion naira, or 92.6% of the total government debt, comprising 64.49 trillion naira in external obligations and 76.59 trillion naira in domestic liabilities.

The 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had combined debts totaling N$11.32 trillion (7.4%), of which $4.81 billion (N$7.36 trillion) was foreign and N$3.96 trillion was domestic.