Nigeria president mulls $500 mln economic stimulus plan

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is considering a $500 million economic stimulus package for Africa's most populous country, a government spokesman said on Monday.

A presidential-appointed committee last weekend sought Yar'Adua's approval to withdraw the money from the OPEC member's windfall oil savings to help fund various infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy.

"We are aware that the committee has made these suggestions to the government. It's before the president," said Yar'Adua spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi.

Nigeria is the world's eighth-biggest crude oil exporter and its economic outlook has been clouded by falling global energy prices, which have eaten into earnings and risk eroding its foreign reserves. More than 80 percent of government revenue comes from the oil and gas sector.

If approved, the $500 million stimulus package is expected to help fill some of the budgetary shortfalls expected this year. Details of the proposed plan were not immediately available.

Yar'Adua last month signed into law a 3.1 trillion naira budget for 2009, estimating the deficit to reach 3.02 percent of gross domestic product.

Analysts predict the deficit could rise to 5-6 percent if oil prices decline further.

Nigeria saves any oil revenue above a certain price into an excess crude account, a pillar of IMF-backed reforms launched in 2003 to guard against price volatility on world markets and to help it save money. About $13.5 billion is available in the account.