Moses Ofodeme
The Federal Government is considering spending N26.01 trillion for the 2024 budget and will assume an oil price of $73.96 for its expenditures at an exchange rate of N700 per dollar.
Budget Minister, Atiku Bagudu, told the media that Nigeria will target oil production of 1.78 million barrels per day under the 2024 spending plan and that government will set aside N8.25 trillion for debt service and N7.78 trillion to cover salaries and pension for civil servants.
Bagudu said the economy is expected to grow at a rate of 3.76 per cent next year, with inflation currently at 20 year high of 27.72 per cent, moderating to 21 per cent next year.
Inflation in Nigeria has risen to double-digits since 2016, eroding incomes and savings, prompting the central bank to raise interest rates, to its highest level in almost two decades.
President Bola Tinubu has been under pressure to ease economic hardship in Nigeria, which worsened after he scrapped a decades old petrol subsidy that caused pump prices to triple and allowed the Naira to depreciate by more than 50 per cent sending prices surging in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation.
Meanwhile federal cabinet has approved a proposed borrowing of $1.5 billion from the World Bank, its finance minister said on Monday. Olawale Edu, who is also coordinating minister for the economy, told reporters after a cabinet meeting that the World Bank had agreed to process the concessionary financing. On Friday, the World Bank said it was in talks with Nigeria to provide $1.5 billion in financing, at the request of the government, to support key policy reforms.