The Federal Government recorded N11.89 trillion in fresh borrowings in the first nine months of 2025, but spent only N3.10 trillion on capital expenditure.
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This was according to figures from the 2025 third-quarter Budget Implementation Report recently released by the Budget Office of the Federation.
The loans comprised N7.08 trillion in domestic borrowing and N4.81 trillion in multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans.
No foreign borrowing was recorded within the period, despite a N1.38 trillion three-quarter budget provision for that item.
What the data shows
Nairametrics observed that actual borrowing exceeded the N10.34 trillion projected for the first three quarters by N1.54 trillion, or 14.91%. However, total capital expenditure of N3.10 trillion was only 17.66% of the N17.58 trillion budgeted for the period, leaving a shortfall of N14.48 trillion, or 82.34%.
- The report showed that total deficit-financing items stood at N12.07 trillion in the first three quarters of 2025, above the N10.58 trillion budgeted by N1.49 trillion, or 14.12%.
- Of this amount, domestic borrowing accounted for N7.08 trillion, exceeding the N6.44 trillion budget by N639.89 billion, or 9.94%.
- Multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans performed even higher, reaching N4.81 trillion against a three-quarter target of N2.52 trillion. This represents an excess of N2.28 trillion, or 90.54%.
The Budget Office said the Q3 deficit was financed through “privatisation proceeds and domestic borrowing,” adding that available financing items included domestic borrowing of N970.00 billion, privatisation proceeds of N120.61 billion and multilateral/bilateral project-tied loans of N3.13 trillion in the quarter.
Capital expenditure trails budget
Despite the borrowing level, capital expenditure remained far below budget.
- Total capital expenditure stood at N3.10 trillion in the first nine months, compared with the N17.58 trillion budgeted. This means the government spent only about N17.66 out of every N100 allocated for capital projects.
- Capital expenditure by MDAs and others was particularly weak, at N1.21 trillion against a N13.90 trillion target. This was a shortfall of N12.69 trillion, or 91.31%.
- Capital expenditure by government-owned enterprises stood at N615.68 billion, matching the N615.68 billion budget provision. Grants and donor-funded projects performed above budget at N1.08 trillion, compared with N541.43 billion projected.
However, the capital expenditure line for multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans recorded zero spending, despite N2.52 trillion budgeted under that capital category.
Loans outpace projects
The data show a wide gap between borrowing and project execution.
The N11.89 trillion in fresh loans was about 3.83 times the N3.10 trillion spent on capital expenditure. Put differently, capital spending was only 26.13% of total borrowings recorded in the period.
The report noted that capital releases were affected by the bottom-up cash release process, availability of resources and government priorities. It said N780.28 billion was released to MDAs and others for 2025 capital projects and programmes in the third quarter.
What you should know
Nairametrics earlier reported that the Federal Government increased its planned borrowing for 2026 to N29.20 trillion following an expansion in the proposed budget size and fiscal deficit.
The new borrowing figure represents an increase of N11.31 trillion compared to the earlier projection of N17.89 trillion contained in the 2026 Abridged Budget Call Circular issued in December 2025.
Peter Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate and ex-governor of Anambra State, earlier criticised the Federal Government’s borrowing strategy, saying it is not translating into economic growth or improved living standards.
His comment emerged amid ongoing concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile and the effectiveness of government borrowing in driving development.
