Each Citizen May Owe N330k by Next Year As Nigerian Government Plans to Borrow Another N8.80trn to Fund Budget

Each Citizen May Owe N330k by Next Year As Nigerian Government Plans to Borrow Another N8.80trn to Fund Budget

  • As Nigerians prepare to get ready for the general election, new data has shown that Nigeria's debt stock is set to get more expensive
  • This is due to an additional borrowing of N8.8 trillion plan to fund 2023 budget
  • The new borrowing plan will take Nigeria's public debt stock to over N51 trillion, which will mean each citizen will owe N238k

The federal government plans to go for a fresh loan of N8.80 trillion to fund its 2023 budget would jack up the nation’s debt stock above the current debt rate of N42.84 trillion.

The borrowing plan is contained in the proposed Budget 2023 submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari submitted to the National Assembly for the 2023 fiscal year.

The budget proposal, tagged Budget of Fiscal Consolidation and Transition, has a total spending plan of N20.51 trillion and includes a deficit of N10.78 trillion to be financed by borrowing.

Read also

Dangote set to borrow N112 billion from Nigerians to complete refinery project, full repayment date in 10yrs

Nigeria debt per capita
Nigeria's public debt could hit N70 trillion in 2023 Credit: Presidency
Source: Twitter

How Nigerians will be affected

The move to take more loans will directly impact all Nigerians' net debt per capita.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!

What that means is that every citizen by next year, if the proposal is approved, will be owing N238,000 from the present level of N197,419.

How Nigerians' debt is calculated

The debt per capita figure was arrived at by adding the nation’s total public debt (both federal and sub-national governments).

This total debt figure is then divided by the country’s population, which, according to worldmeter stands at 217,905,704

Nigeria's present debt stands at N42.84 trillion when the N8.80 trillion plan for next year is added, which means by 2023, Nigeria will be owing 51.64 trillion.

If CBN's loan to the federal government of N20 trillion is added to the figure, Nigeria's total debt will be at N71.64 trillion.

Read also

From Obasanjo to Buhari: How Nigeria's debt ballooned 800% to N42.82 trillion in two decades

Legit.ng analysis shows that without CBN's loan, each citizen will owe N238k with CBN's loan, the debt of a Nigerian could hit a huge N330,138

Breakdown of Nigeria's debt as at June 2023

Details from DMO show that the total external debt stock of Nigeria stood at $40.06 billion (N16.61 trillion) as at June 30, 2022, while the Domestic Debt Stock as at June 30, 2022, was N26.23 trillion.

List of national assets for sale as FG plans more to pay debts, fund 2023 budget

Meanwhile, some national assets have been earmarked for sale to generate revenue to fund the 2023 Budget and pay off debt

Legit.ng report shows that already 42 assets across the country have been put up for sale across different sectors

President Muhammdu Buhari on Friday presented the 2023 budget to the National assembly

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Dave Ibemere avatar

Dave Ibemere (Senior Business Editor) Dave Ibemere is a senior business editor at Legit.ng. He is a financial journalist with over a decade of experience in print and online media. He also holds a Master's degree from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigation (AAOSI), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and other media think tank groups. He previously worked with The Guardian, BusinessDay, and headed the business desk at Ripples Nigeria. Email: dave.ibemere@corp.legit.ng.