LAGOS (AFP) – Proceeds from Nigeria's excess crude oil has sharply fallen as the government dipped into the account to cope with the global financial crisis, an official said on Monday.
In the last three years nearly 14 billion dollars (10.2 billion euros) have been taken from the account, which holds excess cash made from upward swings in world oil prices, said the office of deputy finance minister Remi Babalola.
When the present administration came into office in 2007, it "met over 20 billion dollars in the excess crude proceeds account, which has now declined to about 6.2 billion dollars due to its utilisation by all tiers of government as a result of the impact of the economic recession," it said in a statement.
The minister, a senior accountant and ex-banker, has written more than a dozen papers on the impact of economic recession on Nigeria and the knock-on effects on Nigerians, the statement said.
Oil accounts for about 80 percent of Nigeria's revenue and more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings.
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