The Monetary Policy Committee has expressed its worry over the continued reduction in revenue contribution of the oil and gas sector to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
It made this known in its last meeting held on Monday, July 26 and Tuesday, July 27.
The Committee noted this among its considerations while also noting the increased contribution of the non-oil sector to government revenue “in recent times”.
It said that the persisting reduction of revenue of the oil sector was an indicator for the Federal Government to focus more energy and resources on diversifying the economy.
The reason for this, the committee said, was the rising cost of under-recovery and “other obligations to Joint Venture Contracts”.
It said, “The Committee thus, urged the Government to continue to explore additional sources of non-oil revenue, as this would reduce the over-dependence on a single revenue source.
“The Committee also noted the increased contribution of the non-oil sector to Government revenue in recent times which reflected the gradual diversification of the economy and reduced reliance on crude oil export proceeds and called for increased support for the non-oil sector in the country.”
At its last meeting, the committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 per cent and retain the Cash Reserve Rate at 27.5 per cent as well as retain the asymmetric corridor at +100/-700 basic points.