Nigeria spent N3.1t on domestic debt servicing in Q1 – DMO

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said the federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026.

The office disclosed the data in its latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026.

The figure comprises N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.

The agency said in January, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service, while the figure rose to N967.67 billion in February.

Debt service increased further to N1.43 trillion in March, bringing the total for the quarter to N3.14 trillion.

The March figure was 47.7 percent higher than the N967.67 billion recorded in February and 92.7 percent above the N741.82 billion spent in January.

Also, the debt office said interest payments accounted for about 94.6 percent of total domestic debt service during the quarter.

The DMO said treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest on federal government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.

The agency said the government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.

The DMO said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.

Overall, the government’s domestic debt service rose sharply through the quarter, with March accounting for almost half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.

Nigeria’s public debt increased by 0.01 percent to N159.35 trillion in the Q1 of 2026.

On May 13, President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria would spend $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026.

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