Nigeria Proposes Budget Cuts as Oil Plunge Depletes Revenue – Bloomberg.
Nigeria proposed cutting next year’s budget by 8 percent and lowered its growth estimate as falling global crude prices erode government revenue ahead of a Feb. 14 presidential election.
Expenditure was trimmed to 4.36 trillion naira ($23.3 billion) in 2015, while the economy will probably expand at a rate of 5.5 percent, about 1 percentage point lower than was originally projected, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told reporters today in the capital, Abuja. The plan is based on a benchmark oil price revised down to $65 a barrel from $77.5 in this year’s budget, with the fiscal deficit projected to be 0.79 percent of gross domestic product, from 1 percent projected this year.
Africa’s top oil producer earns about 70 of its income and 95 percent of foreign exchange from crude oil, the price of which has fallen 46 percent this year. The naira has declined 14 percent this year against the dollar, making it the second worst performer in Africa.
