We Withdrew N310 Billion From Excess Crude Account In Six Months, FG Discloses

The Federal Government withdrew a total sum of N310.05bn from the Excess Crude Account within the first six months of this year, a document obtained from the Budget Office of the Federation showed.

The PUNCH Reports that the 2014 second quarter budget implementation report jointly signed by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Director-General, BOF, Dr Bright Okogu, stated that the amount was used to settle various obligations of the Federal Government due to its inability to meet its revenue targets.

A copy of the report obtained by our correspondent on Sunday stated that the withdrawals for the first half of this year was significantly lower than the N1.257tn taken from the account within the first six months of 2013.

The ECA was set up in 2004 to serve as a stabilisation and savings account to protect planned budgets against revenue shortfalls due to volatility in crude oil prices.

By isolating government expenditures from oil revenues, the ECA aims to insulate the Nigerian economy from external shocks.
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