Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has predicted a harsher economic climate in 2016 as the price of crude oil in the international market continues to suffer a slip.
“Except by God’s intervention, Nigerians should brace up for more challenges next year”, he said.
Fayose, who made this known in Efon during his sensitisation tour of local governments in the state, attributed the poor performance of the 2015 budget to the $68 per barrel benchmark on which it was predicated, while oil sold much lower than that.
“This year’s budget did not meet expectations, especially in the area of capital expenditure because of the poor revenue coming in from oil sale in the international market. The oil now sells for less than $40 per barrel”, he noted.
“Without being an economic expert, one can envisage a tough economic terrain next year. You know that I don’t hide things from you, the other day they said they have given out bail-out fund, I said it was not. It will amount to sheer deception for a leader to hide the true position of things from the people.
“We are heading for a serious financial challenge next year, as there seems to be little hope for the economy bouncing back. Our administration has always put our finances in the open for all to see.
“We are on this tour because we need to let you know what is happening. The power of the people is greater than the power of the leaders”, Fayose added.
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