Nigeria spent $817.4 million (approximately N1.26 trillion) on debt servicing in the first two months of 2025, marking a 3.12% decline from the $843.73 million spent in the same period of 2024. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) International Payments Report, the government allocated $540.7 million in January 2025 and $276.7 million in February 2025 for debt obligations.  

A breakdown of 2024 figures shows that Nigeria spent a total of $3.81 billion (about N5.9 trillion) on debt servicing.  

This comes as the Federal Government unveiled its largest national budget in 65 years—N54.99 trillion for 2025—representing a 56.89% increase from the N35.05 trillion budgeted in 2024 (which included a supplementary N6.2 trillion). President Bola Tinubu dubbed it the “Budget of Restoration,” aimed at economic stabilization and growth.  

Debt servicing was allocated N16.3 trillion in the 2025 budget, reflecting a 95% increase from the N8.25 trillion in 2024.  

Meanwhile, data shows that Nigeria’s foreign trade in Letters of Credit (LC) payments fell by 0.55% year-on-year (YoY) to $160 million in the first two months of 2025 from $160.9 million in the same period of 2024. LC payments—an indicator of a country’s creditworthiness—can also reflect fluctuations in import trade volume. For 2024, LC payments stood at $801.06 million, a 39% YoY decline from $1.32 billion in 2023.