From Bloomberg

The Central Bank of Nigeria is concerned the country hasn’t saved enough from its oil income and wants the Finance Ministry to have greater oversight of oil revenue.

“It is natural for the CBN to be concerned at the low level of accretion to reserves and the Excess Crude Account in spite of strong international oil prices,” Ugochukwu Okoroafor, a spokesman for the bank, said in a statement on its website. He said the concern is shared by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer of crude, relies on oil and gas for about 80 percent of government revenue and 95 percent of foreign-currency earnings. It uses the Excess Crude Account to save oil revenue that comes in above the benchmark budgeted price, using it to plug income shortfalls caused by market volatility or output disruptions.

Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Oct. 31 that the ECA had a balance of just under $5 billion, down from about $9 billion at the beginning of the year. The spot price of Nigeria’s benchmark Qua Iboe crude has exceeded $100 a barrel for most of the year, above the $79 budgeted. It was $112.10 a barrel as of 11:36 a.m. in London.

Written by Daniel Magnowski and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo/ Read more at Bloomberg