Nigeria is among the oil producing countries committed to reducing output in an OPEC attempt to pump up prices. But there seems to be no guarantee that the objective will be achieved. CGTN's Phil Ihaza looks at how the impending cuts would hurt Africa's largest economy.

Global oil prices have dipped by about 30 percent over the last two months, hovering around the $50 dollars per barrel mark. A move by OPEC member countries to reduce daily oil production is targeted at reducing the surplus quantity of the product on the international market and boosting the price. As a result, beginning from January 2019 Nigeria, one of the world's top ten crude oil exporters will be looking to cut around 44,000 barrels from it's 1.7 million barrel daily production. However, the development has increased pressure on budgets in oil-exporting countries like the West-African nation.

ODILIM ENWEGBARA ECONOMIC ANALYST "The price of oil as it goes down will affect the benchmark, will also affect the amount of Nara that the budget should be based on. At over N8 trillion, if the benchmark is lower than expected, it means that deficit will be high and if deficit is high who will give you the money, at what rate will the person give you the money and how do you pay back?"

Oil is Nigeria's economic main stay and for now the country needs to sell as much oil as possible to plug its budget and restore economic growth. But some experts say Africa's largest economy should not be so dependent on oil as a source of revenue.

ODILIM ENWEGBARA ECONOMIC ANALYST "It is unfortunate that year in year out we look at the pricing of oil in order to determine how our economy will go on. But at the same time we say that our economy has gotten far away from oil which is not true because over 90% of our forex comes from oil. Nigeria should whether it likes it or not, stop thinking oil and start thinking manufacturing, industrialization, service industry, innovative enterprises and encouraging small businesses to use creative minds."

The drop is expected to remain in place for an initial six month period until June 2019, except for a possible review in the month of April by OPEC countries.

PHIL IHAZA ABUJA, NIGERIA "The World's poverty clock reports that nearly half of Nigeria's 200 million population currently lives in extreme poverty. The country's economy suffered a downturn in 2016 due to global slump in oil prices and experts say the government may need to do more and quickly, to prevent its economy from slipping back into recession. Phil Ihaza, CGTN, A, N."