NIGERIA’S BURGEONING PUBLIC DEBT
The concern is not simply how much the government owes, but whether that debt is helping to build an economy capable of sustaining its future, contends FELIX OLADEJI Nigeria’s public
Nigeria's public debt has reached ₦166 trillion as of June 2026, a rise of ₦7 trillion in just three months, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO). While public borrowing can be a legitimate tool for financing infrastructure, development, and responding to economic shocks, the critical question is whether Nigeria's growing debt stock is being used to build the productive capacity required to sustain future obligations or if it is merely a substitute for deeper economic and institutional reforms.
Assessing the sustainability of Nigeria's public debt requires looking beyond the headline figure and examining the government's revenue base, the cost of servicing its obligations, the structure of its borrowing, and the economic returns generated by public expenditure.
Brief written by urgent.news from This Day's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.