Business
We’ve built a buffer that allows Nigeria cope with low oil prices- Adeosun
Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun says under her watch, Nigeria has developed a buffer that helps it cope well with low oil prices.
The minister said the country had learnt to live with oil prices at $45-$46 a barrel.
“We’ve gotten to a point where we don’t care whether prices will be sustained at the level that they have recently risen to.
“We’ve been able to balance our budget at $45-$46 per barrel and we’ve got to learn to live comfortably at that level.”
The minister said Nigeria cannot afford to rely on oil prices anymore.
Read also: BUHARI: It’s a disgrace no Nigerian refinery is working
As of 2pm on Friday, Brent crude, the international benchmark of crude oil was trading at $70.20. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $65.51.
Adeosun reacted thus, “Yes, it’s at $66-$67 per barrel today, but we’ve been here before, right?
“And we can’t afford to be exposed to that, so I really try very hard to ignore the oil price.”
The oil benchmark for the 2018 budget is $45 per barrel. For the first time in 45 years, the federal government has projected that non-oil revenue will surpass oil revenue in 2018.
The government is also seeking to plug an infrastructure gap of $25 billion.
On this, Adeosun said, “The infrastructure gap is significant, it is far bigger than anybody had imagined, in power, in roads, in rail.”
The minister spoke in an interview with Bloomberg.
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