Nigeria has spent about $1.12 billion on foreign debt service payments in the first quarter of 2024, highlighting the growing burden of external debt on the nation’s finances.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reveal that debt service payments have been steadily rising over the past few years. In Q1 2023, debt servicing stood at $801.36 million, but in Q1 2024, it shot up by 39.7% to $1.12 billion.
A monthly breakdown of the debt service payments reveals a fluctuating yet consistently high expenditure pattern.
Nairametrics further observed that Nigeria spent about 70% of its dollar payments to service external debts between January and March 2024.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), out of the $1.61 billion in total outflows made during this period, a substantial amount of $1.12 billion was directed towards servicing external debt.
This figure represents a hefty slice of the nation’s financial resources and indicates a significant increase from the previous year when it was 49% in Q1 2023.