The fundamentals of the 2019 budget are under threat as crude oil price slumped again yesterday to flatten at $60 per barrel, the same benchmark on which the N8.8 trillion budget was predicated. During the preparations of the budget estimates, crude oil price was around $80, thus giving the federal government the comfort to ignore the $50 benchmark proposed in the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) and to opt for $60 as the oil benchmark on which to base revenue projections for the budget. Concerns that Iranian oil exports to the global market would drop because of renewed sanctions by the United States had pushed the price slightly above $80 per barrel for the first time since November 2014. However, the unexpected rise in the US crude inventories, coupled with weaker outlook for global demand, has continued to push down oil prices, despite the efforts of the Organisation of […]