Nigeria’s 2016 Budget Deficit Widen As Oil Price Slump

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — The Nigeria’s 2016 budget deficit is estimated at 36 percent after oil prices dropped below the $38 per barrel benchmark estimate set by Africa’s largest economy. 

The gap will increase to NGN 3 trillion  (US$15.1 billion) from NGN 2.2 trillion, or 3 percent of gross domestic product, and will remain within the “comfort zone for the international credit rating agencies,” Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun stated in an e-mailed statement on Thursday.

The revised budget is seen aiding the effort to meet a 4.2 percent economic growth target this year, the Finance Minister emphasised. However, the IMF predicted Nigeria’s economy to grow by 4.1 percent and 4.2 percent in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The Finance Minister reiterated that drops in crude prices won’t affect the country  committed to infrastructure investments.