FG to prioritise spending in 2025 budget in response to global crude oil price volatility – Wale Edun
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has revealed that the Federal Government will focus only on priority projects in the 2025 budget in response to global crude oil price volatility.
Edun, who spoke in Washington at an investors’ forum on the sidelines of the ongoing World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, noted that the 2025 budget was prepared with a $75 benchmark for crude oil and a daily production estimate of 2 million barrels.
With crude oil currently trading over $10 below the budget benchmark and daily production hovering around 1.5 million barrels, the Minister acknowledged that the current global economic outlook—exacerbated by the tariff war led by former U.S. President Donald Trump—will place strain on the implementation of the 2025 budget.
However, Edun pointed out that prioritising spending on key economic projects with catalytic impact on the economy and citizens’ lives is one of several options available to the Federal Government to manage the potential fallout and mitigate the effects of a global economic slowdown on Nigeria and its people.
The Minister stated that the immediate plan is to stabilise the economy to attract more private sector investments, which will, in turn, increase government revenue through personal and corporate income taxes.
He added that the government also plans to optimise its assets and extract more value from them to help close potential funding gaps in the budget.
Speaking on the role of increasing local refining capacity in supporting economic growth, Edun said Nigeria’s emergence as a petroleum refining hub will benefit the economy through job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and the growth of affiliated industries—especially in agriculture, construction, and building materials production, which depend on petrochemicals as primary and secondary inputs.
“We currently have 1.2 million litres of daily local refining capacity, and the number is steadily growing. As a result of increasing local refining capacity, our petrochemicals—used in plastics, building materials, fertilizers for agriculture, and more—are spurring growth in other sectors of the economy. All of this will help us generate the revenue needed to fund our budget,” the Minister declared.
