Nigeria’s total debt service costs, which include external and domestic obligations, rose to N3.57 trillion in the third quarter of 2024.
This is according to data from the Debt Management Office.
The data showed that the country’s external debt service payments in Q3 amounted to $1.34 billion, an equivalent of N2.14 trillion when converted at the September exchange rate of N1,601.03 per dollar.
This reflects the combined impact of increased external debt service payments and currency depreciation.
Accordingly, the total debt service cost for Q3 2024 reached an estimated N3.57 trillion, marking a quarter-on-quarter increase of N60 billion, or 1.71 percent, from N3.51 trillion recorded in Q2.
In comparison, the Q2 external debt service of $1.12bn was valued at N1.65tn, based on the June exchange rate of N1,470.19/$.
This indicates a 29.70 percent increase in naira terms, primarily driven by the naira’s depreciation and a higher dollar obligation.
The exchange rate used for the external debt was provided by the DMO in its reports.
In dollar terms, Nigeria spent $1.34 billion on external debt service between July and September 2024, a 19.44 percent increase from the $1.12bn recorded in the previous quarter.
The rise in payments was primarily attributed to higher obligations to multilateral and bilateral creditors, alongside significant interest payments on commercial loans.
Data from the DMO revealed that multilateral debt service payments remained the largest component, totalling $712.66m in Q3, up by 6.04 percent from $672.01m in Q2.
This accounted for 53.26 percent of total external debt service payments, driven by increases in both principal repayments and interest charges.
Notably, payments to the International Monetary Fund rose slightly to $406.98m from $404.24m in the previous quarter.
Bilateral debt service payments experienced a significant Q-o-Q rise of 325.52 percent, increasing to $186.92 million from $43.92 million in Q2.
This sharp increase was largely driven by payments to China’s Exim Bank, which rose to $182.04 million in Q3 from zero in Q2.
