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Buhari under pressure to revive Nigeria's ailing economy

Buhari under pressure to revive Nigeria's ailing economy

Nigeria

The global price of oil has plunged by 70 percent since its peak in 2014, which accounted for two-thirds of the Nigerian government’s revenue.

This has decimated economic growth and the Naira of the leading producer of crude oil on the continent.

Last year President Buhari announced a record 6 trillion Naira (about 27 billion euros) budget for 2016, to stimulate growth.

But serious errors were detected in the draft budget delaying its adoption to Parliament.

The errors included the same purchases for vehicles, computers and furniture, duplicated four times, totaling 46.5 billion Naira.

The president recently dismissed the director-general of the budget office and appointed former banker Tijani Abdullahi to take the helm.

Serious revisions are expected to be made before President Buhari can sign off on the budget, a process likely to take months.

A 50 kilogram (110 pound) bag of rice that used to cost 9,000 Naira now costs 13,000, while a bag of beans has gone up from 12,000 Naira to 15,000,” said Mary Idowu, a street vendor who spoke to AFP.

The rising food costs raised the inflation rate to 9.6 with no sign the pressure would ease.

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