The Federal Government of Nigeria has spent a staggering N2.34 trillion on debt servicing during the first half of the year, according to a recently released report by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The report indicates that Nigeria’s debt servicing expenditure decelerated to ₦849.58 billion in the second quarter of 2023, representing a significant decrease of 43.04% from the ₦1.49 trillion expended on debt servicing in the first quarter of the same year.
Data from the DMO reveals that in the first quarter of 2023, Nigeria allocated N874.13 billion for servicing domestic debt and $801.36 million (equivalent to N617.35 billion) for external debt servicing, totaling N1.24 trillion.
Servicing expenses amounted to N565.88 billion, while external debt servicing costs reached $368.26 million (N283.7 billion), resulting in a combined total of N1.24 trillion, according to data obtained from the DMO.
The exchange rate of the DMO, which was $1 to N770.38, was used for external debt servicing.