o9 December 2015, News Wires – The World Bank Group says the costs of maintaining the Nigeria’s fuel subsidy is higher than the benefits.
It noted that the fiscal cost of the subsidy to the country was $35 billion from 2011-2014 and is expected to cost another 18 per cent of total oil revenues accrued to the country, equivalent to 25 per cent of federal budget in 2015.
The World bank, however, said that its duty was to offer advise to Nigerian authorities and not to decide for it what to do with the subsidy policy.
In its latest Nigeria Economic Report released Tuesday in Abuja, the Bank said the oil revenue and the fuel subsidy has been very controversy subject in Nigeria for a very long time and that the controversy have increased in the light of the budgetary crisis, which has raised critical questions as to the sustainability of the subsidy.
Presenting the report, a lead economist, Mr. John Litwack, said Nigeria’s fuel subsidies are currently regretted by larger households, who ought to benefits from it but pay higher to get each of the products.
- Vanguard
