Budget Office of the Federation has disclosed that the federal government spent N3.41 trillion on debt servicing in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to the office’s latest 2025 Q3 Macroeconomics and Financial Analysis Report, the amount represents a reduction of N171.9 billion, or 4.8 per cent, compared to the projected N3.58 trillion for the period.
“Total Debt Service in the third quarter of 2025 stood at N3.41 trillion, indicating a decrease of N171.90 billion (4.80 percent) below the N3.58 trillion projected for the quarter,” the report stated.
The report showed that domestic debt servicing exceeded projections during the quarter. While N1.8 trillion had been budgeted for domestic debt obligations, actual spending surpassed the estimate by N111.07 billion, representing an increase of 6.18 per cent.
On the other hand, external debt servicing stood at N1.69 trillion, which was N211.72 billion or 12.55 per cent below the projected figure for Q3 2025.
The Budget Office further revealed that total federal government expenditure for the quarter stood at N8.03 trillion. This reflects a decline of N5.71 trillion, or 41.57 per cent, from the prorated quarterly budget estimate of N13.75 trillion.
Despite the decline from projections, the expenditure figure was N390 billion, or 4.86 per cent, higher than the N7.64 trillion recorded during the same period in 2024.
“A total of N2.66 trillion was spent on non-debt recurrent expenditure in the third quarter of 2025,” the office said.
“This represents a decrease of N739.01 billion (21.75 percent) from the quarterly estimate of N3.40 trillion but a N0.83 trillion (31.20 percent) increase from the N1.83 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2024.”
The report also indicated that Nigeria recorded a fiscal deficit of N330 billion in Q3 2025, marking a sharp decline of 90.68 per cent from the projected quarterly deficit of N3.53 trillion.
“The revenue and expenditure outturn of the Federal Government resulted in a fiscal deficit of N0.33 trillion in the third quarter of 2025,” the Budget Office said.
“This was N3.20 billion (90.68 percent) below the projected quarterly fiscal deficit of N3.53 trillion.
“This translates to a deficit to GDP ratio of 2.29 percent in the quarter under review which is within the 3 percent threshold for the country and the ECOWAS convergence criteria.”
The office added that the fiscal deficit was significantly lower than the N3.17 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2024.
According to the report, the deficit was financed through privatisation proceeds and domestic borrowing.
