The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that the Nigerian government has resumed the payment of subsidies on petrol, despite President Bola Tinubu’s promise to end the subsidy during his swearing-in speech on May 29, 2023.
The IMF expressed concerns that the government had capped the prices of fuel at retail stations, partially reversing the fuel subsidy removal.
The global lender advised the Tinubu administration to completely stop the payment of subsidies on petrol to free funds to run the government.
In the past few days, there have been reports of queues returning to petrol stations in major cities in the country, but the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has assured consumers that it has enough to go around.
After the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023, the pump price changed from N185 per litre to N40 per litre and then to N568 per litre at NNPC fuelling stations, while others currently sell above N600.
The government had said the prices would fluctuate after subsidy removal from time to time, but the pump price has remained steady despite the prices of crude oil in the global market going up and down.
The IMF commended the government’s focus on revenue mobilization and digitalisation, saying this will improve public service delivery, safeguard fiscal sustainability, and eliminate the need for CBN financing through ways and means, which have grown above N20 trillion.
