Fuel subsidy to gulp N3.36trn in 2023 budget
The controversial fuel subsidy is to gulp the sum of N3.36trillion in the first half of 2023.
Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, stated this Wednesday during the budget breakdown in Abuja.
Mrs Ahmed noted that the 2023 budget proposal had a deficit of N10.78trillion, adding that local and international borrowing as well as income from privatisation would be used to pay the deficit.
According to her, Nigeria’s debt load increased to $102 billion, of which 35% is international and 65% is domestic, stressing that the country’s current public debt is 23 percent of its gross domestic product.
She said the 2023 budget also factored in 17.16 percent inflation.
She further disclosed that the budget was created against the backdrop of global issues like the COVID-19 epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that generating revenue had been a significant obstacle to the nation’s progress.
According to Ahmed, N2.05trillion and N1.58trillion respectively were allotted for education and health, two crucial sectors.
She noted that N2.74 trillion had been set aside for defence and security, N998.9billion for infrastructure, and N756 billion for social development and poverty alleviation.
Ahmed had previously stated that the Nigerian government will stop funding gasoline subsidies in June 2023.
In support of the government’s position, President Muhammadu Buhari stated that the subsidy was no longer feasible given the present fiscal impact.
The government had said an estimated N6.7 trillion in 2023 would be spent on subsidy —if it is not removed — or N3.36 trillion for the first half of the year, if the FG does not go back on its word.
It was earlier reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited spent N2.565 trillion on petrol subsidy payments since the beginning of the year.
