Nigeria’s total debt owed to the World Bank Group has risen by 121.46% under the presidency of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The country’s indebtedness to the Washington DC-based lender rose from $6.29bn in December 2015 to $13.93bn in December 2022, representing an increase of $7.64bn.
The data from the external debt stock reports by the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria’s total borrowing from the World Bank was $6.67bn in 2016, which grew to $12.38bn in 2021.
The loans approved by the World Bank to Nigeria are usually tied to different projects across different parts of the country.
However, the bank recently warned that Nigeria’s debt, although sustainable for now, is vulnerable and costly due to large and growing financing from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Rising debt pushed Nigeria up the World Bank’s top 10 International Development Association borrowers’ list.
The country has now moved to the fourth position on the list, with $13bn IDA debt stock as of June 30, 2022, after accumulating about $1.3bn IDA debt within a fiscal year.