Nigeria Public Debt 1999 – 2017: An Analysis of Trend and Impact on Economic Growth and Development

Abstract

This paper examines the trend of Nigeria's public debt between 1999-2017. 1999 was the year of return to democratic governance. It critically explores the economic history of borrowing by Nigeria between 1999-2017, by taking an overview of the both the local and foreign public debts vis-a-vis the desired and actual economic development. It considers the reasons for the trend of the debt, types, sources, growth, management, challenges and the efforts and contributions made by the various successive administrations to resolve the public debt crisis. It touched on the nation's fortune in agricultural sector which began dwindling since 1970 upon the discovery of "black gold” in the Eastern part of the Country. The study adopted ex-post-facto research design. Secondary data were collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, applying SPSS version 22 to analyse the secondary data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) respectively.  The paper concluded that the economic growth and development of Nigeria is not commensurate with its level of public debt during the period of study and thus ineffective in line with expectation. Thus it was recommended that there should be a restructuring of the national economic plan and development parameters so that dependence on public borrowing is minimized and where necessary, borrowing objective should be economic, developmental, futuristic and pursued to logical and beneficial conclusion in the interest of the national economy.