Abdulwahab Isa 
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has estimated that public debt stock could rise to N77 trillion by the time the current administration exits by May this year. The estimated figure comprises N44.06 trillion total debt figure as of third quarter 2022, N22.7 trillion Ways and Means financing advanced to the Federal Government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); new borrowings in 2023 budget and the Promissory Note, even as government insists on not restructuring the debt obligations. Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, confirmed the figures yesterday in her contribution virtually at the public presentation of approved 2023 budget breakdown and highlights presided over by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, alongside the Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, and other top officials of government.
This came as the Federal Government, in the 2023 budget made provisions for critical sectors, with Defence and Security leading with N2 .98 trillion, representing13.4 per cent of the budget; Infrastructure, N1.24 trillion, representing 5.7 per cent; Social Development & Poverty Reduction programmes, N809.32 billion; Health Sector, N1.15 trillion as amongst key sectors with critical allocation in the N21. 83 trillion budget signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday. Shedding light on the debt size by middle of the year amid the controversy trailing CBN’s Ways and Means loan obligation to the government, and attempt by the government to securitise it, Oniha described the government’s decision as the best. She said: “The DMO released the figure for the country’s debt stock as at September; you don’t expect it to be significantly different from December.
“Secondly, there are a lot of discussions on the Ways and Means in addition to the significant cost saving in loans service; we would get by securitising it. “There is an element of transparency in the sense that it is now reflected in the public debt stock. “Once it is passed by the National Assembly, it means we will be seeing that figure included in the public debt. You will see a significant increase in public debt to N77 trillion. “So, if you add the new borrowing depending on market conditions so looking anywhere, it will be about N77 trillion. “The other debt stock we are trying to highlight is to say the debt stock is also growing from the issuance of promissory notes, which are not true borrowing as such by the government.” She attributed the growing debt size to the new borrowings, noting that conscious efforts were being made by the government to also grow the revenue side.
“While the debt is growing because there is new borrowing, revenue is receiving significant importance. Like the DMO always says, you can’t talk about debt without talking about revenue. We need the two to work together,” DMO DG said. In the budget breakdown presentation by Ahmed, she revealed that only N3.36 trillion was earmarked for fuel subsidy in Nigeria’s 2023 budget and expressed optimism that with fuel subsidy given away in the middle of the year, the resources would be channelled into other critical sectors.
She said: “In the short term, no other reforms are more important than to fully eliminate the petrol, electricity, and exchange rate subsidies, so that all tiers of government would then be able to use part of the savings to invest in much-needed human and physical capital and to protect the poor and vulnerable with targeted programmes.” According to Ahmed, the total revenue available to fund the 2023 budget is estimated at N10.49 trillion; the government expects 22 per cent of projected revenues from oil-related sources, while 78 per cent is expected from non-oil sources. She said the administration of President Buhari had been able to reverse revenue sources for funding the budget from oil to the non-oil sector.
