By AFP More by this AuthorAbuja,Nigeria's economy shrank by an annualised 6.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, the statistics agency said Monday, owing to low oil prices and effects from the coronavirus. Nigeria, which relies on the oil sector for 70 per cent of government revenue and 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings, has seen oil output and revenue battered by the coronavirus pandemic. AdvertisementOil production stood at 1.81 million barrels per day in the second quarter, compared with 1.98 mbpd in the same period of 2019, it added. Nigeria has also cut its crude output in line with Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) efforts to strengthen the oil market. OPEC production quotas will continue to weigh on the oil sector, especially if Nigeria bows to pressure from other members of the cartel to make compensatory cuts for overproduction in previous months," it said.

Source: Daily Nation August 24, 2020 15:38 UTC