Nigeria's total indebtedness soared to N159.35 trillion by March, according to the Debt Management Office.

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Nigeria’s total public debt stock rose to N159.35tn at the end of March 2026, increasing by almost N10tn within one year, latest figures from the Debt Management Office have shown.

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An analysis of the DMO data by The PUNCH on Friday showed that the country’s debt increased by N9.96tn or 6.67 per cent from N149.39tn recorded at the end of March 2025 to N159.35tn one year later.

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In dollar terms, the increase was considerably higher at 18.22 per cent, with the debt stock rising by 97.24bn to $`114.95bn over the period.

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However, the three-month movement between December 2025 and March 2026 was far more modest in naira terms.

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Total public debt rose by just N75.51bn or 0.05 per cent from N159.28tn at the end of December to N159.35tn in March. In dollar terms, however, the debt climbed by $3.98bn or 3.59 per cent from $110.97bn during the same period.

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The divergence between the naira and dollar movements partly reflected changes in the exchange rate used by the DMO to translate foreign debt into local currency.

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The agency used an official Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate of N1,386.2156/$ for the March 2026 figures, compared with N1,435.2571/$ at the end of December 2025.

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This represented an appreciation of about 3.42 per cent in the exchange rate used for debt conversion.

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As a result, while Nigeria’s external debt increased slightly in dollar terms during the first three months of 2026, its naira value declined substantially.

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External debt stood at $51.90bn in March, up by only $48.05m or 0.09 per cent from `$51.86bn in December. But its naira equivalent fell by N2.48tn or 3.33 per cent from N74.43tn to N71.95tn.

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The fall in the naira valuation of external debt was almost entirely offset by increased domestic borrowing.

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Total domestic debt rose by N2.55tn or 3.01 per cent in three months, moving from N84.85tn in December 2025 to N87.40tn in March 2026.

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Consequently, domestic obligations increased their dominance in Nigeria’s debt portfolio, accounting for 54.85 per cent of total debt in March compared with 53.27 per cent three months earlier.

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External debt’s share fell correspondingly from 46.73 per cent to 45.15 per cent.

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The one-year figures reveal an even stronger shift towards domestic borrowing.

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Domestic debt increased by N8.64tn or 10.98 per cent from N78.76tn in March 2025 to N87.40tn in March 2026. Its share of total public debt consequently increased from 52.72 per cent to 54.85 per cent, a rise of 2.13 percentage points.

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External debt, by comparison, increased in naira terms by only N1.32tn or 1.87 per cent from N70.63tn a year earlier.

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But the dollar figures tell a different story. Nigeria’s external debt increased by 45.98bn in March 2025 to $`51.90bn in March 2026. The much smaller rise in its naira value reflected the stronger exchange rate used in translating the March 2026 stock.

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The Federal Government remained by far the dominant borrower in the domestic market.

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FGN domestic debt increased from N80.49tn in December to N82.88tn in March, representing an increase of N2.39tn or 2.97 per cent in three months. Compared with N74.89tn in March 2025, the stock rose by N7.99tn or 10.67 per cent within one year.

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The FGN domestic component alone accounted for 52.01 per cent of Nigeria’s entire public debt stock at the end of March 2026, up from 50.53 per cent in December and 50.13 per cent in March 2025.

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Domestic debt owed by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory also increased.

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The stock rose by N163.25bn or 3.74 per cent from N4.36tn at the end of December to N4.52tn in March. Compared with N3.87tn in March 2025, states and FCT domestic debt increased by N654.58bn or 16.92 per cent.

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An examination of the Federal Government’s domestic debt instruments showed that the first-quarter increase was driven mainly by Treasury Bills rather than conventional FGN bonds.

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The outstanding value of Nigerian Treasury Bills jumped by N2.71tn or 19.60 per cent in only three months, from N13.85tn in December 2025 to N16.57tn in March 2026.

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Compared with the N12.70tn outstanding in March 2025, Treasury Bills increased by N3.87tn or 30.45 per cent in one year.

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Their share of FGN domestic debt consequently increased from 16.96 per cent in March 2025 and 17.21 per cent in December to 19.99 per cent in March 2026.

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FGN bonds remained the largest domestic debt instrument at N63.45tn, representing 76.56 per cent of the Federal Government’s domestic obligations in March.

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However, the amount was N179.25bn or 0.28 per cent below the N63.63tn recorded in December. Its share of the domestic portfolio also declined by 2.5 percentage points from 79.06 per cent at the end of 2025.

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On a year-on-year basis, total FGN bonds increased by N3.66tn or 6.12 per cent from N59.80tn in March 2025.

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The March 2026 bond figure included N39.46tn in conventional naira bonds, N22.72tn in securitised Ways and Means advances and N1.27tn in the domestic US dollar bond. The securitised Ways and Means component was unchanged from December.

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The domestic dollar bond declined in naira terms from N1.32tn in December to N1.27tn in March, largely reflecting the appreciation in the exchange rate used for conversion.

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The underlying outstanding amount remained `$917.41m, according to the DMO.
nOther domestic instruments showed mixed movements.n

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FGN Sukuk remained unchanged at N1.19tn during the quarter but was N200bn or 20.15 per cent higher than the N992.56bn recorded in March 2025.

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Savings bonds rose by N11.89bn or 11.39 per cent from N104.32bn in December to N116.21bn in March. Compared with N82.61bn a year earlier, the stock increased by 40.66 per cent.

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Green bonds remained unchanged at N62.36bn during the quarter but were more than four times the N15bn recorded in March 2025.

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Promissory notes moved in the opposite direction during the quarter, falling by N158.78bn or 10.28 per cent from N1.54tn in December to N1.39tn in March. Despite the quarterly decline, the stock remained N84.03bn or 6.46 per cent above its March 2025 level of N1.30tn.

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On the external side, multilateral loans remained Nigeria’s largest single category of foreign borrowing, standing at $`23.86bn or 45.96 per cent of external debt in March 2026.

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This was virtually unchanged from $23.85bn in December but represented a $1.42bn or 6.35 per cent increase from `$22.43bn in March 2025.

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The International Development Association, the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, remained Nigeria’s single largest external creditor with $`18.39bn outstanding.

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This was slightly lower than $18.51bn at the end of December but $1.40bn higher than the `$16.99bn recorded a year earlier.

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Debt to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development increased to 1.38bn in December and $`1.24bn in March 2025.

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Bilateral debt stood at $6.59bn in March, falling by $139.39m or 2.07 per cent from $6.72bn in December, but remaining $550.58m or 9.12 per cent above the `$6.03bn recorded in March 2025.

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China remained the largest bilateral creditor, with 507.52m to the China Development Bank.

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Eurobond debt was unchanged at 1.23bn or 7.10 per cent higher than the $17.32bn outstanding in March 2025.

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The PUNCH earlier reported that the Federal Government increased its borrowing plan for 2026 to N29.20tn following an expansion in the proposed budget size.

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The figure was an increase of N11.31tn when compared with the earlier N17.89tn borrowing projection contained in the 2026 Abridged Budget Call Circular issued by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

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