ABNORMAL BORROWING TO PAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF FUEL SUBSIDIES - YUSUF
A palliative to remove fuel subsidies costing $800 million was borrowed from the World Bank in June, according to Muda Yusuf, director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Business.
Following the Federal Executive meeting last week, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, announced that Nigeria has obtained $800 million from the World Bank for post-fuel subsidy withdrawal relief for Nigerians.
She said that the social intervention scheme would benefit more than 50 million Nigerians, who would get the monies.
But, in response to the minister's suggestion, Yusuf stated in an exclusive interview with MON DIARIES on Monday that historically, gasoline subsidies did not require borrowing and that instead, palliatives were paid for with the money saved from the elimination of subsidies.
Yusuf emphasized that the elimination of gasoline subsidies and palliative measures should be left up to the new Administration.
"First, any conversation on subsidy removal and palliatives should be left for the incoming Administration.
"We have had subsidy-related palliatives, and none involved borrowing. The practice had been that palliatives were funded from the savings from subsidy removal, which makes the current proposition rather strange," he stated.
Before the commencement of the new government, President Muhammadu Buhari made a suggestion that fuel subsidies will be eliminated. Nonetheless, this position has received harsh criticism from the Nigeria Labour Congress and other labor groups.
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