Nigeria spent $817.4 million (approximately N1.26 trillion) on debt servicing in the first two months of 2025. This represents a 3.12 percent decline compared to the $843.73 million spent during the same period in 2024.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) International Payments Report shows that the government spent $540.7 million on debt servicing in January 2025 and $276.7 million in February 2025.
Further analysis reveals that Nigeria spent a total of $3.81 billion (about N5.9 trillion) on debt servicing in 2024.
The Federal Government had unveiled its largest national budget in 65 years, proposing a record N54.99 trillion in spending for 2025. This marks a 56.89 percent increase from the N35.05 trillion budgeted in 2024, which included a supplementary N6.2 trillion.
President Bola Tinubu described the proposal as the “Budget of Restoration,” emphasizing its focus on stabilizing the economy and driving growth.
In the 2025 budget, N16.3 trillion is allocated for debt servicing, reflecting a 95 percent increase from the N8.25 trillion budgeted in 2024.
Meanwhile, data indicates that Nigeria’s foreign trade through Letters of Credit (LC) payments declined by 0.55 percent year-on-year (YoY) to $160 million in the first two months of 2025, compared to $160.9 million in the corresponding period of 2024.
LC payments serve as a key measure of a country’s creditworthiness, though fluctuations can also reflect changes in import trade volumes. Total LC payments for 2024 stood at $801.06 million, marking a 39 percent YoY decline from $1.32 billion in 2023.
