The Nigerian Government’s Seemingly Endless Effort to Correct Misinformation About the Country’s Debt

Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, once again, issued a breakdown of the country’s debt to external creditors in a bid to push back against the widely-held, yet misinformed perception that the country is in debt beyond its capacity — mostly to China.

On Friday, the DMO responded to a Freedom of Information request from a law firm that wanted to know about “external loans of $76 billion incurred by the federal government.”

The $76 billion figure, however, is totally fictitious.

The DMO replied that Nigeria only owes $27.6 billion with about half of that due to Eurobond holders ($10.8) and the China Exim Bank ($3.12 billion). With a debt-to-GDP ratio of just 31.5%, many financial analysts consider Nigeria’s current debt levels to be manageable.

Read more on the story on The Cable website.

by Eric Olander

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