President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday set up a committee to access the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on Nigeria’s 2020 budget and the economy in general.
The committee’s responsibility will be to check how the dwindling price of crude oil caused by the outbreak will affect the country’s economy.
The committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, will submit its report to the president tomorrow.
Other members are the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; the Minister of State, Budget, Clement Agba and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari.
Mrs Ahmed, while addressing state house correspondents after the meeting, said they (committee) would decide whether to reduce the budget benchmark of $57 per barrel.
“But, what that figure will be is what the committee will decide,” she stated.
Mrs Ahmed said that in the event it became necessary to reduce the benchmark, “the committee will also recommend a reduction in the size of the N10.59 trillion budget”.