To mitigate the effects of the proposal to eliminate subsidies on petroleum products by June 2023, the Federal Government has obtained $800 million from the World Bank through the National Social Investment Plan.
During the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, made the announcement while taking questions from State House media.
She claimed that the secured fund was prepared for distribution.
When asked about the preparatory measures that would be taken before the withdrawal of the subsidy on the premium motor spirit known as gasoline, the minister responded: “The second question on exit of fuel subsidy, this is a good question.
“Also, when we were working on the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Appropriation Act, we made that provision to enable us exit fuel subsidy by June 2023.
“We’re on course, we’re having different stakeholder engagements, we’ve secured some funding from the World Bank, that is the first tranche of palliatives that will enable us give cash transfers to the most vulnerable in our society that have now been registered in a national social register. Today that register has a list of 10 million households. 10 million households are equivalent to about 50 million Nigerians.
“But we also have to raise more resources to enable us do more than just the cash transfers and also in our engagements with the various stakeholders, the various kinds of tasks that we have go beyond the requirement of just giving cash transfers. Labour, for example, might be looking for mass transit for its members.
“So, there are several things that we’re still planning and working on, some we can start executing quickly, some are more medium-term implementation.”
When asked how much funding was received from the World Bank for the execution of the planned exit, she said “$800 million for the scale up of the National Social Investment Programme at the World Bank and it’s secured, it’s ready for this disbursement”.
