Nigeria’s budget for 2024, which amounts to $26.11 trillion naira ($34 billion), has been made public.
According to Budget Minister Atiku Bagudu, the budget is predicated on an oil price of $73.96 per barrel and an exchange rate of 700 naira to the dollar.
The plan also allots 7.78 trillion naira for civil servant wages and pensions and 8.25 trillion naira for debt payment.
Bagudu further mentioned that in the upcoming year, the economy is predicted to expand at a rate of 3.76%. However, the nation is currently dealing with inflation that is at a 20-year high of 27.72%; it is predicted that this rate will decline to 21% in 2024.
Since 2016, Nigeria has struggled with double-digit inflation, which has prompted the central bank to drastically boost interest rates.
President Bola Tinubu is under increasing pressure to address the country’s economic problems, which were made worse after the removal of a long-standing gasoline subsidy, which led to a 50% depreciation of the naira and a tripling of fuel prices in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous country.