Nigeria total debt rose by N4.76tn in 2016, the Debt Management Office has disclosed.

The DMO disclosed this in its 2016 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to the office, Nigeria’s debt as of December 2016 stood at N17.36tn, up from N12.6tn a year earlier. This reflects an increase of N4.76tn or 37.74 per cent within a period of one year.

The significant increase, according to the DMO, is mainly in the domestic debt component and is attributable to additional issuance of debt securities to fund the 2016 budget deficit and the refinancing and redemption of matured securities.