Less than two weeks to the end of the year, Director-General of Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, has said that the nation is facing financial challenges, with Federal Government’s budgeted Independent Revenue performing at a mere 36 per cent, as of September.

Addressing chief executive officers of Government-Owned Enterprises, GOEs, in Abuja, yesterday, the D-G put revenue not remitted by Federal Government organizations at about N2.81 trillion.

The figure came from a long list of 50 defaulting GOEs with unremitted revenues in the current year, as well as those brought forward from previous years.

Top on the list were Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, with N1.343 trillion; Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, with N801 billion; Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, with N192.102 billion; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, N66.081 and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, N51.991 billion.

Others among the largest debtors were NIPOST, N37.744 billion; Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, N30.853 billion, National Inland WaterWays Authority, NIWA, N30. 834 billion, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, N30.709 billion and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, N22.799 billion.

Budget 2019 threatened as oil price drops

Meanwhile a new threat to the Federal Government’s budget for 2019 emerged yesterday as crude oil price dropped from $66.00 to $57.00 per barrel in the international market, indicating $3.00 below the $60 benchmark of the 2019 budget.

Specifically, the price of Brent fell by as much as 4 per cent, hitting a low of $57.20 a barrel, in its third straight day of decline, while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, weakened as much as 4.1 per cent to $47.84, the lowest level since September 2017.

Also, the price of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC basket of 15 crudes stood at $58.24 a barrel, compared with $59.07 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

Vanguard