Nigeria’s public debt hits N97.34trn in Q4 2023 – DMO
…Cooking Gas Price Increased By 19.75% In February – NBS
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has reported that Nigeria’s total public debt stock as of 31 December 2023 was N97.341 trillion ($108.229 billion).
Data released by the DMO stated that the amount comprised domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government, the 36 State governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The debt office said that there was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for 30 September 2023.
According to the DMO, the increase was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part-finance the deficit in the 2024 budget, and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
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“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 per cent,” the DMO said.
It highlighted that the country’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The debt office said the move was consistent with the country’s debt management strategy.
It pointed out that loans from multilateral sources constituted 49.77 percent of the country’s external debt stock, while loans from bilateral sources constituted 16.02 percent.
“That is a total of 63.79 percent, mostly concessional and semi-concessional loans”.
It explained that “Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and ongoing efforts of the authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”
Cooking Gas Price Increased By 19.75% In February – NBS
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased from N5,139.25 recorded in January 2023 to N6,154.50 in February 2024.
NBS disclosed this in its “Cooking Gas Price Watch’’ for February 2024 released on Saturday in Abuja.
The report said the February price represented a 19.75 per cent increase, compared to what was obtained in January 2024.
The NBS said the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased on a year-on-year basis by 33.78 per cent from N4,600.57 recorded in February 2023 to N6,154.50 in February 2024.
On state profile analysis, the report showed that Lagos recorded the highest average price at N6,820.00, followed by Imo at N6,785.71, and Anambra at N6,750.00.
It said on the other hand, Yobe recorded the lowest price at N4,912.50, followed by Kebbi and Adamawa at N5,350.00 and N5,385.00, respectively.
Analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price at N6,616.57 for 5kg cooking gas, followed by the South-West at N6,513.30.
“The North-Central recorded the lowest average retail price at N5, 723.02,” the NBS said.
Also, the NBS said the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cooking gas increased by 28.33 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N11, 735.72 in January, 2024 to N15, 060.38 in February 2024.
The report said the average retail price for 12.5kg cooking gas rose by 46.88 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N10,253.39 recorded in February 2023 to N15,060.38 in February 2024.
State profile analysis showed that Ogun recorded the highest average retail price of N16,375.00, followed by Delta at N16,333.33 and Edo at N16,321.43.
On the other hand, the report showed that the lowest average price for 12.5kg of cooking gas was recorded in Bauchi at N13,167.50, followed by Katsina and Yobe at N13,562.50 and N13,610.00, respectively.
Analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price of N15,954.60, followed by the South-South at N15,943.40.
The report said the North-East recorded the lowest price at N14,035.88. (NAN)
