Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama has declared that the Nigerian economy will not collapse if the United States of America stops importation of crude oil from Nigeria.
Speaking on Thursday shortly after the meeting of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Abuja, the minister said the reason for the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was to take care of the exigencies. According to him, the reason people have crisis is when anticipated occurrences are not taken of, stressing that such shocks has been taken care of in the budget.
Acknowledging the fact that such shortfall in demand will surely have impact in the economy, he said “We don’t normally spend all our income. That is why we do not really spend all that we produce. We have taken the slight slow down into account in the budget,” he said.
On how much is left in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) after such drawdowns, Ngama explained that what was left in the account at the end of December was N9.24 billion but it was drawn down to N8.24 billion. However, he said it has risen again to N9.2 billion.
