NIGERIA: International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives say Nigeria's budget deficit to widen to 8.5 per cent of GDP this year as oil and gas revenues decline

Record ID: 234859

  • Title: NIGERIA: International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives say Nigeria's budget deficit to widen to 8.5 per cent of GDP this year as oil and gas revenues decline
  • Date: 21st May 2009
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (MAY 19, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF ROOM AND MARK PLANT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) DOING A PRESENTATION VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK PLANT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), SAYING: "The fiscal balance is projected to swing from a sizeable surplus in 2008 to a large deficit, about 8.5 percent of GDP, in 2009." AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK PLANT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), SAYING: "Like many countries in Africa, Nigeria goes into this crisis in a better position than in past crises, thanks to the oil savings that have been built up in recent years and consolidation in the banking sector."
  • Embargoed: 5th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Finance
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Y7PPT9Q1ZQ1YS37HAYQTKQ94
  • Story Text: Nigeria's budget deficit is likely to widen to around 8.5 percent of GDP this year, as oil and gas revenues decline, while foreign reserves are seen falling below 40 billion US dollars, the International Monetary Fund said this week.
    "The fiscal balance is projected to swing from a sizeable surplus in 2008 to a large deficit, about 8.5 percent of GDP, in 2009," Mark Plant, deputy director for African development at the IMF, said during a presentation in Lagos.
    The Fund expects growth in sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy to reach 2.9 percent this year and 2.6 percent next, down from 5.3 percent in 2008 largely due to lower than anticipated oil production.
    But Plant noted that the world's eighth biggest oil exporter was entering the global financial downturn in much better shape than it had in previous crises.
    "Like many countries in Africa, Nigeria goes into this crisis in a better position than in past crises, thanks to the oil savings that have been built up in recent years and consolidation in the banking sector," he said.
    The global economic crunch has made many countries, including Nigeria, to seek to diversify their sources of revenue. Nigeria intends to diversify into agriculture.
    Nigeria's main foreign exchange earnings come from oil revenues, but production has been hampered by incessant attack by militants.
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