According to Senator Ali Ndume, the FG is actually gaining more money to support its 2024 budget rather than losing out on the naira’s depreciation against the dollar.
Speaking on Channels TV, Ndume expressed the opinion that the 2024 budget, which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu unveiled last November, is a “dollarized” budget in terms of revenues because the majority of the government’s income is derived from the sale of dollars-priced crude oil. He went on to say that the FG would have more naira to spend on its naira-denominated expenses if the value of the dollar rose.
He said that the government will profit from the present dollar-to-naira exchange rate and that crude oil, Nigeria’s main export, is still in great demand on the international market.
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“Don’t forget that this budget is a ‘dollarized’ budget, especially in terms of income. And when it comes to the terms of the expenditure, it’s in naira. So if we are getting our money in dollars and the value of the dollar is up, that means we will have more naira in terms of what we spend, because we are not spending in dollars, we are spending in naira, while we are getting our revenue in dollars.
“Truly, the value of naira against the dollar has fallen but we are selling our major product that we generate income in dollars. And that means any dollar we get now will also be valued at the current dollar-to-naira exchange rate.
“So if you do the analysis critically, it may mean if you balance it up, we may have more money to fund our budget. So technically, Nigeria is even benefiting from the dollar-to-naira hike,” he said.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli