Nigeria’s
total debts stood at 12.06 trillion naira ($63.5 billion) at the end of
March this year, up from 11.2 trillion naira in December 2014, the Debt
Management Office (DMO) said on Wednesday.
Nigeria,
Africa’s top economy and largest oil producer, has been hammered by the
50 percent fall in global oil prices as crude sales account for more
than 70 percent of government revenue.
Squeezed
government revenues forced this year’s budget to be revised and federal
projects scrapped or halted while state employees have gone months
without being paid.
The national currency, the naira, has also
come under intense pressure, losing substantial ground to the dollar on
both the official and black market.
The figure announced by the
DMO confirms claims by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that the country’s
debt stood at some $60 billion at the end of Goodluck Jonathan’s term,
after he lost to President Muhammadu Buhari in March elections.
Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister, had however staunchly
rejected the claim, saying the debt was much lower, and mostly incurred
by states rather than the federal government.
Nigeria’s debts
have been rising in recent years despite the country having received $18
billion in relief from the Paris Club of creditors in 2005, when its
national debt stood at $30 billion.
Credit: Vanguard
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