IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Federal government of Nigeria has restated its resolution to stop subsidizing petroleum products in 2023, following the 18-month extension announced early this year.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed spoke on Monday at the National Assembly
Ahmed appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance for deliberation on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
The official said petrol subsidy would remain up to mid-2023, following the 18-month extension announced early this year.
The halt is expected to take effect June/July 2023 after President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office on May 29.
The government is proposing to spend N19.76trillion in 2023; N3.36trillion of the estimate would be used for oil subsidy.
Ahmed noted that the amount being used to service debt had overshot appropriation in the 2022 budget.
The minister said 60 percent of revenue was to be spent on debt servicing, but the ratio went up to 90 per cent.
“We have been able to, consistently without fail, serviced our debt and we do not have any projections that we will fail.
“We follow the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy strictly; debts are not taken haphazardly, they are planned”, NAN quoted her saying.
Ahmed further disclosed that the government was under pressure to manage debt servicing due to the drop in revenue generation.