
The House of Representatives has called for a review of the 2024 budget projections owing to the free fall of the naira in the past few months.
Rising from plenary session on Thursday, the lawmakers adopted a motion on matter of public urgent importance titled, “Need to evaluate the implications of the current exchange rates on the 2024 national budget implementation to ensure a balanced budget and increase in the standard of living of Nigerians.”
The motion, moved by member of the All Progressives Congress representing Kosofe Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Kafilat Ogbara, drew the attention of the House to the fluctuating exchange rate of the naira to the dollar since the passage of the N28.7trn 2024 budget by the National Assembly and the subsequent assent by President Bola Tinubu.
Moving the motion, Ogbara who doubles as the House Committee Chairman on Women Affairs and Social Development, noted that the initial proposal of the Federal Government on the 2024 budget based on a projected N800 to the dollar was no longer fissile.
The PUNCH reports that though the naira has witnessed improvement in value in the past few days, it exchanged for N1,488 to $1 in the official market on Thursday.
The lawmaker told his colleagues that there is a causal relationship between the exchange rate movements and macroeconomic aggregates such as inflation, fiscal deficits and economic growth, adding that “The persistent fluctuation of the exchange rate trended with major economic variables such as inflation, Gross Domestic Product and fiscal deficit in Nigeria, presently.”
She also stated that when exchange rates change, the prices of imported goods will change in value, including domestic products that rely on imported parts and raw materials, stressing that “Exchange rates also impact investment performance, interest rates, and inflation and can even extend to influence the job market and real estate sector.”