ALLAFRICA.COM

The Federal Government on Monday said it may reduce the approved 2020 National Budget, totalling N10.6trillion, following the impact of the outbreak of Coronavirus on the global crude oil price.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, who briefed State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said a five-man committee has been constituted to tackle the issue.

Hajiya Ahmed said the membership of the committee include herself; the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba; the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; and the Group Managing Director (GMD), the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari.

She said the committee would revisit the crude oil benchmark price earlier put at $57 per barrel by reducing it.

She added that the decision to reduce the crude oil benchmark price would, however, be taken by the five-man committee she was leading.

Daily Trust reports that the National Assembly had passed the 2020 budget at $57 per barrel Oil Benchmark Price.

The oil benchmark is currently at $31 per barrel due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in some countries across the world.