According to information made public by the Debt Management Office (DMO), the public debt of Nigeria reached N44.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2022 (Q3 ’22).

According to a press release from the DMO posted on its website, the amount represents a growth of 2.9 percent when compared to the N42.84 trillion recorded in Q2 of 2022.

The total public debt stock, it was added, is made up of N17.5 trillion in external debt and N26.92 trillion in domestic debt.

The statement continued, “As of September 30, 2022, Nigeria’s Total Public Debt Stock stood at N44.06 trillion, comprising the Total Domestic and External Debt Stock of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), all State Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)”.

Nigeria had a total public debt of N42.84 trillion as of June 2022 prior to this announcement.

The total domestic debt stock was N26.92 trillion as of September 30, 2022, while the total external debt stock was N17.15 trillion, according to the DMO.

According to the DMO, “largely new borrowings by the Federal Government to part-finance the deficit in the 2022 appropriation Act, as well as new borrowings by sub-nationals,” were to blame for the increase in the debt stock.

Data from the DMO’s external and domestic debt service also revealed that in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, the nation spent N1.17 trillion on debt service.

Domestic debt service cost N820.59 billion, while external debt service cost N356.92 billion ($801.23 million).

In the first half of 2022, the federal government spent N1.33 trillion to pay off domestic debts, a 42.5 percent increase over the N935.46 billion spent in the same period of 2021.

A sizeable portion of this cash was used to pay off debts to neighborhood contractors.

The domestic debt service increased from N1.19 trillion in the second half of 2021 by 19.2%.