The Federal Government spent N7.7tn on interest payments in the first half of 2026, representing 124.2 per cent of its total revenue of N6.2tn during the period, according to the World Bank.
The figures indicate that interest payments alone exceeded the government’s revenue by N1.5tn between January and June 2026, raising concerns about Nigeria’s debt burden despite improved revenue collections.
The findings were contained in the World Bank’s October 2026 Nigeria Development Update, titled Beyond the Federal Purse: How Higher Revenues Shaped State Priorities.
The report showed that interest payments increased by N2.1tn, or 37.5 per cent, from N5.6tn recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, largely due to elevated domestic borrowing costs.
The World Bank stated, “Interest payments increased to 3.1 per cent of GDP (N7.7tn) from 2.5 per cent (N5.6tn) amid high domestic borrowing costs.”
An analysis of the figures showed that the interest-to-revenue ratio declined from approximately 155.6 per cent in the first half of 2025 to 124.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2026, representing an improvement of 31.4 percentage points.
Despite the improvement, interest obligations continued to exceed the government’s total revenue, leaving limited resources for infrastructure, public services and other expenditure commitments.
