Senator Ali Ndume has asserted that the Nigerian federal government is not facing losses due to the depreciation of the naira against the dollar.
According to him, the current exchange rate is actually contributing to increased revenue, supporting the funding of the 2024 budget.
In an interview with Channels Television, Senator Ndume highlighted that the 2024 budget, presented in November, operates as a ‘dollarized’ budget in terms of income. The majority of the government’s revenue, generated from crude oil exports, is denominated in dollars.
Explaining further, Senator Ndume emphasised that as the value of the dollar rises, the government receives more our currency, which can be allocated to domestic expenditures.
Despite the depreciation of the naira against the dollar, he pointed out that Nigeria’s crucial export, crude oil, remains in high demand globally, suggesting the country stands to benefit from the current exchange rate.
Ndume stated, “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 our currency.
“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 our currency against the dollar has fallen but we are selling our major product that generates 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 stressed.
