Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account has been depleted to an all time low of $274.583 million. The amount can not tide Nigeria over a stormy financial shock should oil prices fall below the budget benchmark. The account was initially created to sustain the country if as when crude oil prices fall below budget mark. The Honourable Minister of State for Budget and National Planning reported to the National Economic Council that balances in the under listed accounts as at 17th September, 2019 are as follows: EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT (ECA) USD 274, 583, 856 .78; STABILIZATION ACCOUNT N23, 796, 349,487.76; DEV. NATURAL RES. ACCT FUND N105, 135, 613, 817.27.
This means that the amount saved from oil windfall in the country’s excess crude revenue account has been depleted and what is left will not tide the country over any financial down turn should oil price fall below the budget bench mark of $62 per barrel. Much of the savings in the Excess crude account has been disbursed and what is left based on what the three tiers of government in the country agreed on will not be enough to make any significant impact on the budget if the prices of oil falls below the budget bench mark.
Professor Chukuma Soludo who was CBN governor and the then accountant general of the federation Mallam Dankwabo had told reporters in Washington during IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings that the federation account committee had agreed that N1trillion be set as the base for the savings and what ever is earned as excess revenue in any particular period that is above the one trillion mark, 80 per cent should be shared among the three tiers of government why 20 per cent is saved.
He had disclosed at the time that out of what was saved the three tiers of government agreed that the sum of $5.6 billion is to be spent on power stressing that with the drop in the production level which has resulted in the drop of crude export as a result of the activities of the militants in the Niger Delta, part of the savings have been used to supplement the revenue allocation to the three tiers of government in months when available revenue falls short of the budget provision.
The Nation Excess crude account has been depleted from about $20 billion in 2007 to only $274.583million as at the end September 17, 2019.
The Honourable Minister of State also briefed the Council on the Budget Support Facility saying that State Governments are expected to start servicing the loan from September 2019 and repayment is over 240 months. It was gathered that the Council resolved that Governors should meet with the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Nigeria to sort out the details of repayment modalities and the Vice President will ensure same and ensure the meeting between the Governors, CBN and Finance Ministry in order to facilitate the speedy resolution of the matter.
