The Federal Government has challenged the World Bank’s assessment of Nigeria’s debt burden, dismissing reports that interest payments exceeded federal revenue in the first half of 2026 as misleading.
The Federal Ministry of Finance made its position known in a statement on Sunday, October 18, 2026, shared by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, through his X account.
The ministry was responding to findings from the World Bank’s October 2026 Nigeria Development Update, which indicated that the Federal Government generated ₦6.2 trillion in revenue between January and June 2026, while interest payments on debt reached ₦7.7 trillion.
Based on those figures, an analysis published by The Punch calculated that interest payments represented approximately 124.2 per cent of federal revenue, exceeding the amount collected by ₦1.5 trillion.
However, the Finance Ministry argued that the calculation did not accurately reflect the government’s fiscal position, saying it compared debt obligations covering multiple levels of government with revenue attributed solely to the Federal Government.
According to the ministry, the interest payment figure includes debt serviced by the Federal Government on behalf of state governments, including external loans contracted by states. It maintained that comparing such obligations with federal revenue alone overstated the burden.
The ministry also argued that the reported revenue figures excluded income already earned by government agencies and enterprises but not yet remitted to the Treasury.
It further explained that some taxes are collected predominantly in the second half of the year because of statutory payment schedules, making first-half revenue an incomplete basis for assessing annual debt obligations.
To support its position, the ministry disclosed that federal revenue increased by 72 per cent, from ₦3.6 trillion in the first half of 2025 to ₦6.2 trillion in the corresponding period of 2026.
Over the same period, interest payments rose by 38 per cent, from ₦5.6 trillion to ₦7.7 trillion.
The government said the figures showed that revenue was growing faster than interest costs, reducing the gap between revenue and interest payments from ₦2 trillion in the first half of 2025 to ₦1.5 trillion in the same period of 2026.
It described the trend as evidence that its fiscal reforms were producing results rather than indicating a debt crisis.
Post a Comment