(Ecofin Agency) - Nigeria will sell some of its equities in oil joint-ventures to bridge its revenue gap, Udoma Udo Udoma (photo), the minister of budget, indicated according to a release relayed by Reuters.

The country will only keep 40% of its equities in oil joint-ventures. Although the name of the joint-venture concerned is not revealed yet, the official indicated that the operation should be realised before end 2019.

Thanks to the new measure, Nigeria expects to bridge the financial gap between its expenditures and its revenues this year.

Let’s note that the 2019 budget is NGN8,830 billion ($24.4 billion) but, even though it is below the 2018 budget, it is still one of the highest.

This announcement is made just weeks after the government demanded $20 billion in taxes from some oil companies.

At end 2018, Nigerian authorities raised about $2.8 billion to bridge the 2018 deficit. According to the IMF, its 2019 growth should be around 2%.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou