Nigeria's economic woes 'basically our own fault': Buhari
Nigeria
only has itself to blame for its current economic troubles, President Muhammadu
Buhari said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, criticising previous
governments for an over-reliance on crude revenues.
Africa's biggest oil producer and leading
economy has been struggling with the slump in global crude prices for nearly
two years, which has slashed the majority of government revenues.
The country's junior oil minister last
Thursday said some oil-producing countries, including Russia, would meet in
Moscow on March 20 to discuss a way out of the slump.
Asked if the world's biggest supplier Saudi
Arabia and policies of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
had hit smaller producers, Buhari told Al-Jazeera English OPEC had to "act
together to save the situation".
Countries, including Nigeria, "have to
live by" market forces, he said, ruling out a Nigerian withdrawal from the
body.
But he added: "OPEC as an organisation
has to be mindful of economic conditions in each member country because that
will influence that country's ability to go along with OPEC decisions.
"Nigeria, we were unable to diversify
our economy, hence we are much more disadvantaged by the lower oil prices and
OPEC may try to help us out but really, it's basically our own fault."
Buhari, who took office in May last year, has
made reducing Nigeria's reliance on crude revenues a key plank of his economic
policy alongside ending decades of corruption and impunity.
But those efforts have been hamstrung as
cash-flow problems caused by the global oil shock as well as previous
administrations' failure to save crude revenue when prices were high.
Buhari again said he would not devalue the
naira currency or lift strict foreign exchange controls that critics say have
strangled investment and growth in the import-dependent country.
"Nigeria can only afford to live within
its means," he said.
