Oil Price Crash: Nigeria’s finance minister, CBN governor, others in crucial meeting

Crashing crude oil prices on Monday forced an emergency meeting of key revenue agencies to review the impact on the Nigerian economy.

The meeting, ongoing in the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, was convened by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

A source close to the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES that the agenda of the meeting is focused on the 2020 budget whose fundamentals appear to have been derailed.

Some of the officials attending the meeting include the governor the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mohammed Nami, as well as the Minister of State for Budget, Clem Agba.

The finance minister had earlier said the government would take a decision to review the budget fundamentals based on the lower crude prices

On Friday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to reach a consensus with its non-OPEC members on further cut on oil output to strengthen the price.

The price of Brent crude reduced to about $34 a barrel on Monday while Nigeria’s 2020 budget was done based on a crude benchmark price of $56.

SOURCE: premiumtimesng.com