Federal Government over borrows by more than 55% in 2025

Nigeria’s federal government has gone way over its borrowing target for 2025 by over bowering by more than 55% as at October exceeded it by quite a bit already. This situation brings up real concerns about keeping finances in check and handling debt in the long run.

Reports from various sources point out that the 2025 Appropriation Act put the borrowing limit at ₦13.08 trillion. That amount was meant to cover the expected budget shortfall. In the first ten months from January to October, the government took on ₦17.36 trillion in loans. This already tops the adjusted ten-month cap of roughly ₦10.9 trillion. The overrun comes to about ₦6.06 trillion. That is around 55.6 percent more than planned.

Looking at the details, domestic borrowing hit ₦15.8 trillion by October 2025. Foreign borrowing reached about ₦1.56 trillion during the first half of the year.

Experts figure that if things keep going like this, the total for 2025 might climb to ₦23 trillion. That would mean an extra ₦10 trillion or so. In other words, it could be about 80 percent above what was budgeted for borrowing.

This issue carries weight for a few reasons. The budget laid out spending of ₦54.99 trillion against expected revenue of ₦41.91 trillion. The gap of ₦13.08 trillion was supposed to come from loans.

Going over on borrowing like this can push out credit for private businesses. It might drive up interest rates too. Debt payments could get even heavier as a result. People in the know say this kind of loose spending now endangers the push for better reforms and tighter budgets.

When borrowing keeps running high, particularly if revenues fall short like with oil output estimates versus what actually happened, it makes the debt cycle worse.

To sum it up, even though the official limit stood at ₦13.08 trillion for the whole year, the federal government had already pulled in ₦17.36 trillion by October 2025. This shows a major slip from fiscal goals. Unless they step in with fixes, the projection of ₦23 trillion in total borrowing looks pretty worrying for where the country’s finances are headed.