The Federal Government’s precarious fiscal position worsened in January 2025 as debt servicing obligations exceeded total retained revenue by a wide margin, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s January 2025 Monthly Economic Report has shown.
According to the report, the Federal Government’s debt servicing obligations for the month stood at N696.27bn, while total retained revenue amounted to only N483.47bn, indicating that debt service alone consumed about 144 per cent of all government earnings.
This development highlights the growing debt burden and dwindling fiscal space facing Africa’s largest economy.
Despite slight improvements in some revenue categories, the retained earnings were grossly inadequate to cover obligatory debt repayments, exposing the government’s continued reliance on borrowing to meet basic obligations.
A further analysis of the report revealed that retained revenue in January 2025 only recorded a marginal 0.89 per cent increase when compared with the N479.21bn generated in the corresponding month of 2024.
The report read, “FGN retained revenue declined in the review period, owing largely to lower receipts from Federal Government Independent Revenue and FGN’s share of exchange gain.
