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Nigeria saved ₦1 trillion from 2 months of fuel subsidy removal— President Tinubu

Published

1 year ago

August 1, 2023

President Tinubu of Nigeria, during a nationwide address Monday, revealed that the government had saved ₦1 trillion in the two months since the removal of petrol subsidy.

Tinubu said the money which would have been squandered by those he called “smugglers and fraudsters” would now be channeled into intervention programmes targeting families nationwide.

“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters,” Tinubu said.

Tinubu had during his inauguration speech on May 29 declared, “subsidy is gone”, although the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari delayed the removal of the subsidy but made budgetary provisions for the subsidy to end by June 2023.

He said the funds so far saved from the subsidy removal “will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families.”

According to government data, Nigeria spent 4.39 trillion Naira ($9.7 billion) on fuel subsidies in 2022, with over ₦1.15 trillion reportedly being spent in just 2021.

Nigeria is one of the top oil producers in the world, but it doesn’t refine crude oil at home. Four refineries are run by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC): two in Port Harcourt (PHRC), one in Kaduna (KRPC), and one in Warri (WRPC). Despite having received numerous upgrades, none of them have run at full capacity for many years.

Although Tinubu was silent on the issues around the moribund refineries in his address, he however unveiled ₦500bn palliative for small businesses and farmers, and plans to increase salaries and acquire 3,000 mass transit buses, release of 200,000 Metric tonnes of grains for households, among others.

Related Topics:Featured Fuel subsidy Nigeria President Bola Tinubu

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.