Nigeria’s public debt for both the Federal Government and the states stood at 19.63 trillion Naira (about 54.47 billion US dollars) as at June 30 this year, the Debt Management Office (DMO) says.
A report on the DMO website says the external debt of both the state and Federal governments was 4.6 trillion Naira, while the domestic debt of the Federal Government was 12 trillion Naira and the domestic debt of states stood at 3.0 trillion Naira.
It added that the Federal Government spent 253.3 billion naira on domestic debt servicing in the second quarter of 2017.
Domestic debt was incurred through government debt instruments such as Nigerian Treasury Bills, Nigerian Treasury Certificates, Federal Government Development Stocks, Treasury Bonds, Ways and Means Advances.
In another development, the Federal Government has offered for subscription a two-year savings bond at 13.81 per cent and three-year savings bond at 14.81 per cent interest.
According to the offer circular, the two-year bond will be due in September 2019 while the three-year bond will be due in September 2020. It, however, did not state how much was offered, but added that the maximum subscription was 50 million Naira at 1,000 Naira per unit, subject to a minimum subscription of 5,000 Naira and in multiples of 1,000 Naira.
The savings bond issuance is expected to help finance the nation’s budget deficit. It is to also part of the Federal Government’s programme targeted at the lower income earners to encourage savings and also earn more income (interest), compared to their savings accounts with banks. The offer will close on Friday.
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