The foreign and domestic debts of the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) amounted to N4.08 trillion as at the end of 2016.
The Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt 2016 Report released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the States and FCT’s foreign debt was N1.12 trillion ($3.57 billion) while their domestic debt was N2.96 trillion as at December 31, 2016.
In 2016, the Federation Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocated to the 36 states and the FCT a total of N1.37 trillion, which was 33 per cent of the states and FCT’s total debt stock.
The data of the internally generated revenues (IGRs) of states also show that the states were struggling financially and heavily dependent on state allocations and borrowing to survive.
The IGR record from the NBS indicates that for the half of 2015, the 36 states and the FCT generated N308.94 billion. All things being equal, assuming the states generated the same value for the remaining half of the year, the entire states IGR in 2016 would amount to N617.88 billion, just about 15 per cent of their total debt burden.
A breakdown of the debt stock showed that Lagos State has the highest foreign debt profile among the 36 states and the FCT accounting for 38.70 per cent, while Kaduna, Edo, Cross Rivers and Ogun followed closely at 6.25 per cent, 5.15 per cent, 3.22 per cent, and 2.90 per cent respectively.
Similarly, Lagos State has the highest domestic debt profile accounting for 10.54 per cent, while Delta, Akwa Ibom, FCT and Osun accounted for 8.15 per cent, 5.25 per cent, 5.16 per cent and 4.97 per cent respectively.
Lagos State has $1.25 billion as foreign debt and N311.76 billion domestic debt to remain as the state with the highest debt stock in Nigeria.
