Nigeria will shed more than half of its federal revenue into debt servicing by 2026, threatening to cripple funding for critical infrastructure, healthcare, and education.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest country assessment, interest payments will consume a staggering 53.7 percent of government revenue in 2026, up from 40.8 percent in 2024, leaving the nation in a precarious fiscal squeeze despite its overall debt level being classified as statistically sustainable.
This debt-service ratio marks a steady increase from 53.2 percent in 2025. While the IMF expects the burden to ease marginally to 52.4 percent in 2027, the near-term outlook underlines severe limitations on the country’s public spending capacity.
Speaking on ARISE Television, Christian Ebeke, the IMF resident representative for Nigeria, explained that while the risk of sovereign debt distress remains “moderate,” the real threat lies in the high interest-to-revenue ratio rather than the total debt stock.
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