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Nigerian revenues fall to $1.50 billion in March: ministry
Nigeria's Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun speaks at a news conference in Lagos, Nigeria, April 9, 2016. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye
22/04/2016
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's government revenues fell in March to 299 billion naira ($1.50 billion), down from 345.095 billion naira ($1.73 billion) in February, due to low oil prices, the finance minister said on Thursday.
"The federation accounts receipts are among the lowest in recent memories. We are looking at 299 billion [naira] this month and that is because of the very low oil pricing," Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun told reporters.
Adeosun said that the rainy day fund, the Excess Crude Account, stood at $2.3 billion, up slightly from $2.26 billion.
Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and the continent's top oil producer, relies on crude sales for about 70 percent of government revenues and has been hit hard by the sharp fall in global crude prices since mid-2014.
Many states have been unable to pay public salaries in time or fund infrastructure projects and other state services.
(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Andrew Roche)
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