Nigeria Raises Borrowing Limit In New Debt Management Plan

Nigeria increased the amount it is allowed to borrow as a proportion of GDP to 40% from 25% as part of a new debt management strategy approved by cabinet Wednesday.

The higher limit will accommodate borrowings to fund budget deficits and other government obligations, including promissory notes, to be issued to settle government arrears, as well as the ways and means to advance at the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Debt Management Office said in a statement on its website.
The debt strategy is for the period 2020 to 2023 and has been made to reflect current economic realities and projected trends, including the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the statement.

Africa’s largest economy will emphasize borrowing from domestic sources using long-term instruments, while multilateral and bilateral sources will be prioritized for external borrowing needs, which shall not be more than 30% of the total debt portfolio, according to the plan. The DMO will target a 10-year average tenor of debt in its portfolio with long-term securities making up at least 70% of the stock.

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The strategy will be implemented to support economic development while ensuring that the public debt is sustainable, the DMO said.

The West African nation’s public debt is projected to increase sharply to 34% of GDP in 2020 and rise moderately to around 36.5% in the medium term, helped by favorable interest rate-growth dynamics, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest report on the country.

Interest payments as a proportion of revenues, estimated at 92.6% in 2020, is projected to decline to 60.8% in 2021 but rise steadily to 94.1% of revenues by 2025, according to the IMF.