Director general, Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha says the incoming administration would inherit about N77 trillion as debt by the time President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure ends in May.
Oniha said this while fielding questions from journalists at the public presentation and breakdown of the highlights of the 2023 appropriation act in Abuja on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Buhari signed the N21.83 trillion 2023 budget into law, with a deficit of N11.34 trillion.
The deficit represents 5.03 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
She said, ” There are a lot of discussions on the ways and means. In addition to the significant cost saving in loan service we would get by securitising it, there is an element of transparency in the sense that it is now reflected in the public debt stock.
“Once it is passed by the national assembly, it means we will be seeing that figure included in the public debt. You will see a significant increase in public debt to N77 trillion.
“The other area of the debt stock we are trying to highlight is to say the debt stock is also growing from the issuance of promissory notes, which are not true borrowing as such by the government. “