The Federal Government spent $62.66 million to service railway-related debts in the first quarter of 2023, according to the external debt service payments report by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that railway revenue dropped to N768.44 million in the first quarter this year, below the N2.08 billion reported in the corresponding period last year.
Information gathered from the Debt Management Office (DMO) reveals that the amount was used to service debt on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project.
A breakdown of the figure showed that the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section) gulped $23.1 million.
DMO also disclosed that the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project debt service costs the federal government $24.07 million adding that $15.49 million was expended to service the debt on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section).
The total debt service on the railway projects rose by 1.50 per cent or $930,000 year-on-year as the $62.66 million reported in Q1 2023 surpassed the $61.73 million spent on debt service during the same period in 2022.
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