Nigeria is planning spending cutbacks next year as falling oil prices eat into the government’s revenue, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. The minister will propose to lower expenditure by 6 percent to 4.66 trillion naira ($27 billion) in the 2015 budget by tightening rules on foreign travel and raising taxes on private jets and luxury cars, Okonjo-Iweala told reporters yesterday in the capital, Abuja. Those plans are based on a benchmark oil price of $73 a barrel, down from $77.5 in this year’s budget, she said. The government of Africa ’s biggest oil producer, which is preparing to hold elections on Feb. 14, earns about 70 percent of its income from crude oil, the price of which has slumped to a four-year low this month. The naira weakened to a record low last week, prompting the central bank to run down reserves in a bid to defend the currency. […]