By theG&BJournal
SAT FEB 28 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s public debt increased modestly by 0.6% q/q to N153.29 trillion in Q3-25 (Q2-25: N152.40 trillion), according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) latest data.
The increase is attributed to additional borrowings undertaken to finance rising government expenditures, driven by the continued revenue shortfall.
Notably, the total domestic debt stock (53.4% of total public debt) increased by 1.6% q/q to N81.82 trillion (Q2-25: N80.55 trillion), reflecting the increase in Federal government debt stock (+1.6% q/q) and states debt stock (+1.0% q/q).
At the same time, total external debt stock (46.6% of the total public debt) increased by 3.1% q/q to USD48.46 billion (vs +2.2% q/q to USD46.98 billion in Q2-25).
The increase reflects additional disbursements from multilateral lenders (+0.9% q/q), including the World Bank (US$157.70 million) and the African Development Bank Group (US$61.65 million), alongside higher borrowings from bilateral sources (+1.3% q/q) and a sharp uptick in syndicated loans (+437.7% q/q).
In naira terms, total external debt declined by 0.5% q/q to N71.48 trillion (Q2-25: N71.85 trillion), reflecting naira appreciation as the average exchange rate appreciated by 3.7% q/q to N1,474.85/USD in Q3-25 (Q2-25: N1,529.21/USD). On a year-on-year basis, total debt grew by 7.7%.
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