As Nigeria’s debt burden rises, the Federal Government has engaged the services of expert consultants that can assess the country’s debt situation to extend the repayment period of its loans

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed explained that the Federal Government proposed N10.78 trillion deficit in the 2023 budget presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the Minister, this is an improvement on the earlier proposed N12.43 trillion deficit for the 2023 budget.

She said the government has engaged the services of consultants for advice, “on the larger portfolio of debt, we have just appointed a consultant” to assess how the government can “get additional relief by way of restructuring and negotiating to stretch out the repayments to longer periods,” although she didn’t provide further details.

Ahmed said the government plans to refinance domestic debt obligations that are due this year and next, while the country’s N20 trillion ($45.4 billion) in outstanding borrowings from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be converted into government bonds.

The National Assembly had earlier approved plans by the Federal Government to borrow as much as N8.4 trillion to help make up the N10.78 budget deficit for 2023, an estimated 4.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The minister said, “The budget is designed for us to raise financing 50% from domestic and 50% from international financing and this will be a combination of concessionary sources and bilateral sources as well as the international capital market.’’