Nigeria has a total Treasury Bills (T-Bills) debt of N10.4 trillion, a 60% rise in just three months, according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO).
This is the largest T-Bills debt balance on record based on analysis, dating back to at least 2010 per central bank records.
The DMO, via the central bank, has issued several Treasury Bills auctions in the first half of 2024 as it relies on a combination of monetary and fiscal policy to fight inflation while also providing a source of funding to meet the government’s short-term expenditure.
Treasury Bills have grown to be a major source of short-term expenditure for the government, especially under the All Progressives Congress (APC), growing from a balance of N2.8 trillion under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Goodluck Jonathan to N10.4 trillion currently.
It was N5.8 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2023, largely accumulated under the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
According to the DMO, Nigeria’s Treasury Bills balance stood at N6.5 trillion as of December 2023, making up 11% of Nigeria’s domestic debt balance. However, as of March 2024, the figure has spiked by 60% to N10.4 trillion, which is 16% of the total domestic debt portfolio.
This indicates Nigeria’s T-Bills debt is now 4.37% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Credit: Nairametrics
