Abuja, July 9, 2024 – Nigeria’s debt-to- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is within the specification of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the country’s peer group.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) said this in Abuja on Tuesday.
Patience Oniha, Its Director-General , said this while reacting to media reports that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 52 per cent exceeded the World Bank/IMF’s prudential ceiling for countries in Nigeria’s peer group.
She explained that the prudential ceiling for these countries is 55 per cent, and not 40 per cent.
Oniha said that improvement in revenue generation was crucial for the country to achieve accelerated socio-economic development and debt sustainability.
According to her, recent policies by the Federal Government to focus more on revenue generation are the right steps to reduce the country’s debt burden.
“We cannot discuss growth, development, or debt without giving due consideration to revenue.
“It is now imperative that we confront revenues and take decisive actions to further strengthen our revenue streams from all sources,” she said.
Oniha urged the Federal Government to prioritise fiscal retrenchment, while assuring that the various measures to attract foreign exchange inflows would increase external reserves and support the naira exchange rate.
Recall that the DMO recently announced that the country’s total debt stock increased to N121.67 trillion in March, from N97.34 trillion in December 2023, indicating an increase of N24.33 trillion.
She said the increase was partly due to exchange rate fluctuations as well as securitisation of N4.90 trillion as part of the securitisation of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances approved by the National Assembly.
Oniha said the total debt stock included the domestic and external debt stock of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
