Metro

Nigerian Govt spends $600m on fuel importation monthly, Minister reveals

Published

2 months ago

August 7, 2024

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has revealed that despite the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, the country still spends $600m on fuel importation monthly.

Edun, who stated this during a television interview programme on Wednesday, stated that the high import bill was due to neighbouring countries benefiting from the country’s fuel imports.

Explaining that the situation was one of the reasons President Tinubu removed fuel subsidy in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, confessed that the country did not know the exact amount of fuel consumed internally even as a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the country’s petrol import was reduced to an average of one billion litres monthly after the removal of fuel subsidy.

“The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President, and at that time, the poorest of 40 per cent was only getting four per cent of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to be just a few,” Edun said.

“Another point that I think is important is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600m to import fuel every month but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting.

“So we are buying not for just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa. We are buying. We are buying for countries to the North and we are buying for countries to the West. And so we have to ask ourselves as Nigerians, how long do we want to do that for and that is the key issue regarding the issue of petroleum pricing.”

The Minister also noted that Nigeria must take a decisive step to tackle step the problem as it impedes it’s economic growth.

“Of great importance to the government is the welfare of the people, particularly the vulnerable. One of the key areas of focus is ensuring food availability and affordability.”

Edun also clarified that the N570bn fund release to state governments was implemented last year December.

“This actually refers to a reimbursement that they received from December last year onwards and it was a reimbursement I think under the COVID financing protocol but the point is that the states have received more money. They have received more money. Mr President has charged to ensure food production in the states.”

He stated that the recent decision to raise the maximum borrowing percentage in the Ways and Means from five to 10 per cent does not imply that the Federal Government tends to rely on the Central Bank of Nigeria financing.

“We have not gone to the central bank to say, please lend the government money to pay its debt, to pay its salaries. That’s Ways and Means. We have not gone. In fact, we have used market instruments to pay down what we owed, and that is a very, very germane aspect of having a strong economy.

“It was raised to 10 per cent, but that doesn’t mean it will be used. It’s there as a fail-safe and just gives that extra flexibility so that if a payment needs to be made and there is a mistiming or gap in when revenue would come in and expenses, we can just draw it down briefly.”

Related Topics:Featured Nigeria Petroleum Subsidy Wale Edun

Click to comment

Metro

Nigeria: Despite severe hardship, Tinubu’s ministers, agencies spend N1.8bn on travels in two months

Published

51 mins ago

September 29, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A report put together by GovSpend, a data and research outfit that tracks and analyzes spendings and expenditure of the Nigerian government, has revealed that several ministries and agencies under the administration of President Bola Tinubu have spent no less than N1.8bn on air tickets, estacodes, and duty tour allowances between July and September 2024 alone.

According to data sourced from the organization, the humongous spending by the ministries and agencies is coming at a time Nigerians are going through severe hardship and hunger as a result of the policies of the Tinubu-led administration which has led to rising cost of living.

The report listed some of the ministries and agencies that have embarked on the spending spree to include the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Police Affairs, the Ministry of Youth Development, the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Others, according to GovSpend, are the Technical Aid Corps, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

Giving a breakdown of the expenditure, the organization said the ministries and agencies spent N755,884,949.44 on Duty Tour Allowances and another N1,044,858,941.48 on estacodes and air tickets and foreign trips, totalling N1,800,743,930.92 spent between July and September 26, 2024.

Among the biggest spenders, according to the report, are the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, which spent N322m; the Ministry of Finance with a total spending of N187.2m; the ICPC with N150m, and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources with N108m all in the space of two months.

Speaking on the development, Debo Adeniran, the Chairman of the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, said the revelation is quite sad, while describing the released figures as “a wasteful expenditure.”

“We have advised the government that during these austere times, they should implement their policy that government officials should not spend on frivolities. We can even excuse the Ministry of Blue Economy because it is new, we are just learning about Blue Economy and how to make it work for us,” Adeniran said in a statement.

“But some other ministries have been operating for ages, and most Nigerians know what they are supposed to do and what they should not do. So, there is no reason for the Ministry of Women Affairs and several of them like that to spend so much on foreign trips and seminars.”

Metro

Zambia: Finance Minister presents K217b 2025 budget to parliament

Published

21 hours ago

September 28, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Zambian Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, has presented the 2025 national budget to the parliament totalling K217 billion which he said was designed to address the pressing drought-induced difficulties affecting the nation.

In a detailed address to parliament in Lusaka on Friday, Musokotwane said it was necessary for innovative revenue-generating strategies to bolster the economy and improve the livelihoods of citizens grappling with these adversities.

The proposed 2025 budget represents a significant increase from the 2024 budget which was K177.9 billion and has already been supplemented by an additional K41.9 billion aimed at mitigating the adverse impacts of the ongoing drought.

Musokotwane laid out a comprehensive strategy to secure funding for the budget and noted that to finance the ambitious budget, there are plans to mobilize K174.2 billion through domestic revenue, while also seeking K8.2 billion in grants from cooperating partners.

According to the minister, the remaining K34.7 billion would be raised through borrowing, reflecting the government’s commitment to addressing fiscal challenges head-on.

He added that there is a proposed Advance Income Tax set at 15 percent on remittances exceeding US$2,000, specifically targeting transactions conducted without a valid Tax Clearance Certificate.

This measure, Musokotwane said, is aimed at combating
illicit financial flows and ensure compliance among businesses and would also apply to non-compliant exporters.

Additionally, Musokotwane announced an upward revision of the corporate income tax rate from 15 percent to 20 percent on profits derived from the export of non-traditional products and value-added copper cathodes.

“The harmonisation is aimed at unifying the income tax regime over the medium term,” he said.

Other notable proposals included the introduction of a K2,500 fee for resident permit holders who remain outside Zambia for more than six months, aligning with international standards.

Musokotwane also proposed a 10 percent excise duty on betting amounts and a significant increase in excise duty on non-alcoholic beverages from the current 60 ngwee to K1 per litre.

Furthermore, he suggested a 20 percent increase in the bands for presumptive tax on motor vehicle operators transporting passengers.

These measures are strategically designed to support the government’s goal of achieving a 6.6 percent real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the coming year.