Business leaders are angling for President Muhammadu Buhari to address the country as the drastic slump in oil prices leaves Africa’s largest oil producer exposed to a deep fiscal crisis.
Nigeria relies on oil exports for 70 percent of foreign exchange earnings and more than half of government revenue.
At $33 per barrel, oil prices have fallen well below the federal government’s $57 benchmark in the 2020 budget and that has led the minister for finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, to call for a review.
The oil price crash which is yet to find a bottom threatens to unravel Nigeria’s fickle economy. It could lead to a sharp devaluation in the naira, reduce federal allocations to state and local governments as well as hinder the full implementation of the 2020 budget. It could also spark a sell off in stocks and bonds while plunging the banking sector into another wave of rising bad loans as oil and gas firms struggle to adjust to lower oil prices.
