Nigeria spent $817.4 million (approximately ₦1.26 trillion) servicing its debt in January and February 2025, a 3.12% drop from the $843.73 million spent in the same period of 2024.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) International Payments Report shows that $540.7 million was spent in January, while $276.7 million went toward debt servicing in February. In total, the country spent $3.81 billion (₦5.9 trillion) on debt payments in 2024.
This comes as the Federal Government proposed a record ₦54.99 trillion budget for 2025, marking a 56.89% rise from ₦35.05 trillion in 2024, including a supplementary ₦6.2 trillion.
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President Bola Tinubu described it as the “Budget of Restoration,” aimed at stabilising the economy and fostering growth. Debt servicing alone is allocated ₦16.3 trillion—95% higher than the ₦8.25 trillion set aside in 2024.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s foreign trade through Letters of Credit (LC) payments declined by 0.55% year-on-year, falling to $160 million in January-February 2025 from $160.9 million in the same period of 2024. LC payments for the whole of 2024 stood at $801.06 million, marking a 39% drop from $1.32 billion in 2023.