FG benefiting from dollar-to-naira hike, says Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume has said the federal government benefits from the naira depreciation against the dollar, adding that it gains more revenue to fund its 2024 budget.

He stated that the 2024 budget, presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last November, is a ‘dollarised’ budget in terms of income. He added that most of the government’s revenue comes from crude oil exports, priced in dollars.

Ndume, who spoke during an interview with Channels Television, noted that as the value of the dollar increases, the FG would have more naira to spend on its expenditure, denominated in naira.

The senator said Nigeria’s crude oil is still in high demand in the global market and will benefit from the current exchange rate. 

He stated, “Don’t forget that this budget is a ‘dollarised’ budget, especially in terms of the income. And regarding 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 the 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.”