The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government had made plans for petrol subsidy only up to the end of June 2022.
The minister disclosed this while speaking at the 27th National Economic summit on Monday in Abuja.
She said the Federal Government only factored in subsidy for the first half of the year. In the second half of the year, the Government is looking at complete deregulation of the sector, thereby saving foreign exchange and potentially earning more from the oil and gas industry.
This comes as the World Bank decried the continued spending by the Nigerian Government on petrol subsidy, which it said is on track to gobble up to N2.9 trillion this year. The Country Director for the World Bank in Nigeria, Shubham Chauduri speaking at the National Economic Summit, said the country could channel money being spent on petrol subsidy to primary healthcare, basic education, infrastructure such as rural roads, and industries.
He went on to say that Nigeria is on track to spend N2.9 trillion on Petrol subsidy this year, more that is spent on health in the country, and likened Nigeria to a malnourished individual needing urgent treatment.
He said “I think the urgency of doing something now is because time is going in terms of retaining the hope of young Nigerians in the future and potential of Nigeria. The kinds of things that could be done right away – the petrol subsidy; yes, I hear that six months from now, perhaps with the Petroleum Industry Act coming into effect, it might go away. But the fact is, can Nigeria afford to wait six months? There is a choice being made; N2.9 Trillion to Petrol subsidy which is depriving states of much-needed revenue to invest in basic services.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the President Economic Advisory Council, Prof Doyin Salami, said he had argued for a very long time that petrol subsidy needs to go.
A petrol subsidy is a program in which the Government or any other organization pays for a portion of gasoline, heating oil, or some other fuel. Nigeria is the biggest producer of crude oil in Africa but still needs to import Petrol, this situation made subsidizing petrol necessary as the exchange rate in which it is being imported puts the price out of the reach of the average consumer.