Nigeria and other developing countries expended a record $443.5 billion in settling different external and publicly-guaranteed debts in 2022, the World Bank in its latest International Debt Report has revealed.

The report stated that debt-service payments, which comprise of principal and interest, increased by five per cent over the previous year for all developing countries.

It said the 75 countries eligible to borrow from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which supports the poorest countries, paid $88.9 billion in debt-servicing costs in 2022.

Also interest payments by these countries have quadrupled, to an all-time high of $23.6 billion in from 2012 to 2022.

The report further stated that Overall debt-servicing costs for the 24 poorest countries are expected to balloon in 2023 and 2024—by as much as 39 per cent, the report stated.