Nigeria's public debt has surged to ₦87.38 trillion as of September, according to the latest data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) released on Tuesday.
The increase is attributed to a rise in domestic borrowing and the impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt when converted to naira.
The data revealed a marginal growth in external debt, increasing by 0.29% from $42.90 billion in June to $43.03 billion in September. Analysts highlight currency depreciation as a significant factor driving the debt increase.
However, the naira equivalent of external debt surged significantly by 9.22%; rising from N63.07 trillion to N68.89 trillion during the same period.
The increase was largely driven by the naira's depreciation against the US dollar, as the exchange rate weakened from N1,470.19/$ in June to N1,601.03/$ by the end of September.
However, Domestic debt recorded mixed performance, declining by 5.34% in dollar terms from $48.45 billion in June to $45.87 billion in September. In naira terms, however, domestic debt increased by 3.10%, from N71.22 trillion to N73.43 trillion.