Nigeria: No dipping into sovereign fund

THE NIGERIAN government is unlikely to make withdrawals from the sovereign wealth fund, even as the price of crude declines. The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, set up in 2012, was not large enough to make withdrawals worthwhile, Uche Orji, the managing director and chief executive, said at the Global Financial Markets Forum in Abu Dhabi. The government has proposed cutting the oil-price benchmark to $52 (R606) a barrel from $65 a barrel suggested in December as a result of slumping prices. The plan, supported by the Nigerian senate, must be approved by lawmakers in the House of Representatives. – Bloomberg