Nigeria spends N4.14 trillion more on debt service than infrastructure
Nigeria incurred N10.61 trillion in additional debt-service costs between June 2023 and December 2025, about N4.14 trillion more than the N6.47 trillion spent on strategic infrastructure development over the same period. The post Nigeria spends N4.14 trillion more on debt service than infrastructure appeared first on Nairametrics .
Between June 2023 and December 2025, Nigeria's debt-service costs surged by N4.14 trillion compared to investments in strategic infrastructure, according to the Federal Government's Nigeria's Reform Scorecard. This was revealed by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, with the debt-service cost amounting to N10.61 trillion, nearly double the N6.47 trillion spent on infrastructure development.
External debt service, driven by naira depreciation, accounted for N9.37 trillion of the added burden. The scorecard revealed that debt service constituted 34.6% of the government's total incremental expenditure of N30.64 trillion, while strategic infrastructure received only 21.1% funding. The government acknowledged the fiscal costs of its reforms, with external debt service making up 88.3% of the N10.61 trillion additional debt burden.
Oyedele, the Finance Minister, highlighted that the reforms had necessitated the N9.37 trillion external debt-service cost, which ranked second in overall expenditures behind wage adjustments. Despite the higher debt-service costs, the government maintains that Nigeria's fiscal sustainability has improved, with the debt-service-to-revenue ratio projected to fall to 50% in 2026 from 100% in 2022.
Written by urgent.news from Nairametrics's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
