The Federal Government’s total borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria through Ways and Means Advances has risen by 96.54 per cent or 8.92tn in two years, data collated from the CBN have shown.

It rose from N9.24tn as of January 2020 to N18.16tn as of January 2022, according to a year-on-year analysis.

The N18.16tn owed by the Federal Government to the apex bank is not part of the country’s total public debt stock, which stood at N39.56tn as of December 2021, according to the Debt Management Office.

The public debt stock only includes the debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory.

Ways and Means Advances is a loan facility through which the CBN finances the government’s budget’s shortfalls.

According to Section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007, the apex bank may grant temporary advances to the Federal Government with regard to temporary deficiency of budget revenue at such rate of interest as the bank may determine.

The Act read in part, “The total amount of such advances outstanding shall not at any time exceed five per cent of the previous year’s actual revenue of the Federal Government.