Domestic obligations of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja rose from N400 billion in one year N2.958 trillion as at December 31, 2016 to N3.348 trillion by the end of last year, figures released by the Debt Management Office has shown.
Domestic debts of states in Nigeria has grown by 13.2 per cent with Lagos State holding the highest obligation of N363.29 billion as at the end of December 31, 2017, the DMO report showed.
Lagos State had the highest level of domestic debt as its local obligations rose by 16.5 per cent from N311.75 billion in 2016 to N363.29 billion by the end of last year. The state currently has the largest debt burden among all states.
The state’s total debt stock of N603.25 billion is 35.61 per cent of the Nigeria’s foreign borrowings. It on the domestic debt front, Lagos was followed by Delta State which saw a decline in its debt level from N241.23 billion to N228.32 billion.
The domestic debt of Rivers state grew by 34.2 per cent from N142.42 billion in 2016 to N191.15 billion in 2017, while the domestic debt stock of Akwa Ibom rose to N187.22 billion from N155.43.
Osun state’s domestic debt declined to N138.23 billion from N147.06 billion.
Anambra state had the lowest domestic debt of N2.612 billion.
However, the federal government owes 78.23 per cent of the country’s entire debt stock as at 31st December 2017, while the states owe just 21.77 per cent. Nigeria’s foreign debt profile stands at $18.9 billion and its local borrowings amounted to N3.35 trillion
