The reduction of oil price in the international market has reduced earnings from the product, but Nigeria’s economy is still growing and the country is not broke, Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala has assured.
“We are operating an economy that depends on a product that fluctuates with oil price and we don’t have the right to control the price,” said Okonjo Iweala on Tuesday at the 2014 Ministerial Platform in Abuja.
“Just like you have in your own household, when the quantity diminishes or the price drops, you remember in 2007 to 2008, the price of oil dropped from 140 dollars to 38 dollars.
“At that time, nobody asked if the country was broke because we had saved up 22 billion dollars in the Excess Crude Account and we were able to continue spending and to stablise the economy.”
The minister therefore dismissed speculation by some media platforms that Nigeria was broke.
She explained however that “sometimes, things need to be a little tighter, easier and we just have to weather it and manage ourselves but that does not amount to the country being broke.”
She therefore urged Nigerians to bear with the nature of the economy, adding that it was the reason every effort was being taken to ensure the economy was diversified.
by Greenstarnetwork admin..
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