By Felix Onuah
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria plans to spend 26.01 trillion naira ($34 billion) for the 2024 budget and will assume an oil price of $73.96 for its expenditures at an exchange rate of 700 naira per dollar, its budget minister said on Monday.
Atiku Bagudu, speaking to reporters, also said Nigeria will target oil production of 1.78 million barrels per day under the 2024 spending plan.
He added the government will set aside 8.25 trillion naira for debt service ($10.8 billion) and 7.78 trillion naira to cover salaries and pension for civil servants.
Bagudu said the economy is expected to grow at a rate of 3.76% next year, with inflation currently at a 20-year high of 27.72%, moderating to 21% 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%, sending prices surging in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation.
($1 = 764.93 naira)
(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Josie Kao)
