Nigerian govt’s debts to workers hit N8.7tr

The Federal Government’s debts to Nigerian workers has increased to N8.7 trillion after borrowing N642.9 billion last year.

A data by Pension Commission (PenCom) obtained by Ripples Nigeria on Saturday revealed that the figure is 7.9 percent higher than the N8.1 trillion total figure for 2020.

The money was given to the federal government by Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs) who bought into government securities offers amid higher returns in interest rates and relatively low-risk factors.

The federal government’s securities include FGN bonds, Treasury bills, agency bonds, Sukuk bonds, and Green bonds.

These securities form a large chunk of the Nigerian government’s N18.23 trillion domestic debts as of September 2021.

The government’s securities are not only the facilities where pension fund managers invested workers N12.30 trillion total assets.

A breakdown of the PenCom report revealed that PFAs invested N943.33 billion in corporate debt securities at the end of December 2021.

The securities include corporate bonds, corporate infrastructure bonds, corporate green bonds, and supra-national bonds.

The PFAs also invested N2.02 trillion in local market securities and N120.7 billion in mutual funds.