FG Spent N3.83trn on Debt Servicing in 15 months – DMO

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said that the federal government spent N3.83 trillion on debt servicing in fifteen months noting that the country's revenue generation is too low.

This was disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by the Director-General, Patience Oniha in an interview. 

Oniha said it was alarming that the federal government spent more on debt servicing in the first four months of 2022 than what it generated in the period. 

She explained that the country's debt servicing grew by 109% between December 2021 and March 2022 noting that it grew from N429 billion to N896 billion.

According to her: “How much revenue is Nigeria generating? Statistics show that relative to other countries, Nigeria’s revenue is low.

“The World Bank’s World Economic Outlook for 2020 showed that Nigeria with a revenue to GDP ratio of 6.3 per cent was ranked at 194 out of 196 countries covered."

She further stated that: “The DMO has repeatedly emphasised the need to grow revenues significantly in order for debt to be sustainable.

“It is advisable for the media and public analysts to begin to focus attention on Nigeria’s revenue generation.

“Revenue is the way to go and that is how countries develop and use borrowing to augment revenue shortfalls now and again.

“Nigeria has been running budget deficits for decades; it is about time to shift to balanced budget and even surplus budgets."