Finance Minister Defends N38 trn Debt |The Source

By Tosin Olatokunbo

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has projected Nigeria’s total debt to hit over N38 trillion by end of next year.

The minister, however, said the federal government needed to borrow to fund critical project and bridge development gap.

This includes both public and private debt stocks the minister said on Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts.

The Minister said, ” The total public debt stock comprising the External and Homes debts of the Federal and state governments and the Federal Capital Territory stood at N31.01trn (USD85.90 billion) as at June 30, 2020.

“It is projected, based on existing approval, to rise to N32.51 trillion by December 31, 2020 and N38.68 trillion by December 31,2021.”