AGF: Excess Crude Account Rises To $3.6bn

The Excess Crude Account (ECA) now stands at about $3.6 billion compared to $3.4 billion in February.

The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Jonah Otunla, disclosed this after the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) which also yesterday shared a total distributable revenue amounting to N641.38 billion among the three tiers of government March.

Also, the committee also voted unanimously at its plenary to remove oil subsidy from its books, according to Chairman, Commissioners of Finance Forum, Mr. Timothy Odah.

He said their resolution would be communicated to the presidency for immediate action.

Meanwhile, the total figure shared is only about N81 million more than the amount shared last month as gross revenue fell by about N52.38 billion to N614.35 billion during the month under review compared to N666.74 billion received the previous month.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Otunla blamed the decline in mineral revenue on oil theft, repair works on pipeline leaks at Bonny and Brass, production shut-in at Qua Iboe terminal and shut down of Forcados.

Mineral revenue for March stood at about N519.99 billion while the non- mineral component stood at about N94.36 billion.

Otunla noted that revenue from value added tax (VAT) also fell by about N3.49 billion to about N63.30 billion in March compared to N66.80 billion the previous month.