Image: Reuters
The Debt Management Office put Nigeria’s total local and foreign debt at $103 billion at the end of June, but the figure excludes 20 trillion naira in central bank advances to the government. Nigeria’s revenue to GDP ratio, at 7%, is one of the world’s lowest, according to the World Bank, and the country is spending a large part of the money on debt repayments, raising concern about the possibility of a default.
Ahmed, however, said national debt was 33% of GDP, the lowest on the African continent and there was no need for debt restructuring. “We have a projection of meeting our debt through short and medium term strategies. We are comfortable in our ability to meet our debt,” Zainab told reporters in the capital Abuja.