• Interest payments gulp N2.97tn, 95% of total domestic obligations
Festus Akanbi
The federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter of 2026, representing an increase of 20.3 per cent from N2.61 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, the latest report from the Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed.
The figures, according to Nairametrics, underscored the growing pressure of interest payments on the federal government’s finances, as N2.97 trillion, or about 95 per cent of the total domestic debt-service expenditure during the quarter, went into interest payments, leaving only N169.68 billion for principal repayments.
The N3.14 trillion domestic debt-service bill was also 37.5 per cent higher than the N2.28 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a sharp acceleration in the cost of servicing the federal government’s domestic obligations at the beginning of the year.
