The Debt Management Office (DMO) says that Nigerian’s total debt
profile is N25.7 trillion.
The Director-General of the office, Ms Patience Oniha, announced this
while addressing House of Representatives Committee on Public Account
on Friday in Abuja.
“As at June 2019, our debt profile is at N25.7 trillion; this includes
the federal, states governments and the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT).
“We call it the total public debt, out of this total, the Federal
Government is responsible for 80 per cent of the debt,” she said.
Oniha said that external borrowing accounted for about 32 per cent of
the total debt while the 68 per cent was domestic.
She explained that the DMO was an agency of government which began
operations in 2000 following the country debt management problems of
the country which led to the debt relief.
Oniha said that the agency was responsible for the management of
public debts and its mandate includes contracting debts on behalf of
the Federal Government.
According to the director-general, this is clear under the Fiscal
Responsibility Act and provisions in the DMO Act.
“If you look back several years, over 85 per cent of budget deficits
are funded by borrowing which the DMO undertakes as approved by the
Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly.
“We borrow from various sources, the multilaterals, the World Bank,
Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank, China Exim and
we also issue products in the international market.
“Locally, we are also very active in domestic borrowing, we issue
treasury bills, Federal Government treasure bonds,” she said.
Oniha said that DMO also serves as an advisory body for the Federal
Government on debt management and to put debt at 25 per cent ratio to
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
She explained that the agency did not receive any amount borrowed,
saying that it was paid directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
which ensured that the money was used for what was borrowed for.
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