How FG Benefits From Dollar Rise Against Naira – Ndume

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Thursday, February 22nd, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, has alleged that the Federal Government benefits from the naira depreciation against the dollar.

Ndume disclosed this on Wednesday when he appeared on Channels Television as he spoke on why the naira continues to depreciate.

According to him, instead of the Federal Government losing out from the naira depreciation against the dollar, the Federal Government is gaining more revenue to fund its 2024 budget.

The Chief Whip further disclosed that the 2024 budget is hinged on the dollar for income as a huge chunk of the government’s revenue comes from oil exports which are sold in dollars.

He said: “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 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.”