The federal government has disbursed only N2 billion out of the promised N5 billion to each state as a palliative measure to ease the effects of subsidy removal. The decision to release N2 billion was made to mitigate the noticeable surge in inflation that could have occurred if the entire N5 billion had been distributed.
During his inaugural press briefing in Abuja on Friday, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, emphasized that the federal government is fully aware of the repercussions of its choices. Consequently, it chose to phase the release of the relief funds to minimize adverse economic consequences.
Wale Edun said the source of the fund is “a blend of grant to and borrowing by the state governments”.
Generally speaking, the finance minister said “the president is going to deliver a better life to Nigerians by encouraging investment that increases productivity that grows the economy and there by creating jobs and reducing poverty”.
Details shortly…
