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By Adewale Sanyaolu
NIGERIA may be on the verge of reducing its N1.84 domestic and foreign borrowings to fund its N6.08 trillion 2016 budget proposal currently before the National Assembly as crude oil price firmed to $41.62 yesterday.
The development may have further signified a boost for the country’s N6.08 trillion budget proposal prepared with an oil benchmark of $38.
Crude oil price fell to 11- year low of $27 recently creating panic across the globe, especially in Nigeria which depends on it for over 70 per cent of its revenue.
Earlier in the year, the President of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Christine Lagarde, had during a four-day visit to Nigeria foreclosed financial support for Nigeria citing the country’s restrictive foreign currency policies as setbacks.
Lagarde had stated clearly that she was not in the country to negotiate loans with conditionality, adding that although Nigeria did not need IMF loan, fiscal discipline was needed for the country to be sustainable.
She had said, “let me make it clear that I am not here (in Nigeria) nor is my team in this country to negotiate a loan with conditionality. We are not into programme negotiations and frankly, at this point in time, given the determination and resilience displayed by the President and his team, I don’t see why an IMF programme will be needed.
“So, of course, discipline is going to be needed, implementation is going to be key for the objectives and the ambitions to serve the country well, in order for it to be actually sustainable.”
