Nigeria spent N2.70 trillion on external debt service in the second quarter of 2025, according to the Budget Office of the Federation in its second quarter 2025 budget implementation report.
The amount is N1.01 trillion, or 60.05 per cent above the prorated quarterly sum of N1.69 trillion; it is also 45.2 per cent of the N5.97 trillion revenue the government generated during the period, exposing the country’s precarious debt situation.
Nigeria’s external debt as of June 2025 stands at N71.85 trillion ($46.98 billion), or 47.14 per cent of the total debt stock.
The report shows that the total recurrent debt expenditure in the second quarter of 2025 stood at N4.44 trillion, indicating an increase of N862.57 billion (24.10 per cent) from the N3.58 trillion projected for the quarter.
A total of N1.71 trillion was used to service FGN domestic debt during the quarter. This indicates a difference of N90.71 billion (5.05 per cent) below the prorated quarterly estimate.
According to the report, the total public debt stock as of June 30, 2025, stood at N152.40 trillion ($99.66 billion).
This indicates an increase of N3.01 trillion (2.01 per cent) when compared to the N149.39 trillion ($97.24 billion) recorded at the end of March, 2025.
Domestic debt accounted for N80.55 trillion ($52.67 billion) or 52.86 per cent of the total debt stock. This translates to a net present value of total public debt to the 2024 GDP ratio of 45.08 per cent as at the end of June, 2025.
Although the report said this is below the country’s threshold of 60 per cent and the international threshold of 56 per cent for comparator countries, even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned the country to watch the rate at which it is piling up debt.
Multilateral lenders are holding 49.4 per cent of Nigeria’s external debt, meaning any global interest-rate shock could tighten financing conditions.
Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, has also spoken against the rising debt profile, stressing that loans must directly boost repayment capacity and warning against over-reliance on foreign debt due to exchange-rate risks.
The Q2 Budget implementation report showed that the Federal Government’s domestic debt stock of N76.59 trillion as at the end of June, 2025, represents an increase of N1.7 trillion, or 2.27 per cent above the N74.89 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2025. It was also N9.63 trillion (14.38 per cent) above the N66.96 trillion reported in the corresponding period of 2024.
It said the increase in domestic debt relative to the second quarter of 2024 was due to the new issuance of FGN bonds during the period.
A breakdown of the domestic debt stock as at 30th June, 2025, reveals that N60.65 trillion (79.18 per cent) is for FGN Bonds, N12.76 trillion (16.67 per cent) is for Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs), N91.53 billion (0.12 per cent) is for FGN Savings Bonds, N1.29 trillion (1.69 per cent) is for FGN Sukuk, N62.36 billion (0.08 per cent) is for Green Bonds and N1.73 trillion (2.26 per cent) is for Promissory Notes.
On the external debt stock side, Nigeria’s external debt stock, which stood at $46.98 billion as at 30th June, 2025, was $1.00 billion (2.17 per cent) and $4.08 billion (9.51 per cent) higher when compared to the $45.98 billion reported in the first quarter of 2025 and the $42.90 billion reported in the corresponding quarter of 2024.
A breakdown of the external debt stock as of June 30, 2025 revealed that multilateral debts amounted to $23.19 billion (49.36 per cent), bilateral debts amounted to $6.20 billion (13.21 per cent), commercial (Euro-Bond) amounted to $17.32 billion (36.86 per cent), while syndicate loans and Deutsche Bank A.G. amounted to $268.90 million.
