The Federal Government has distributed N2 billion to each Federation State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as part of the N5 billion palliative package to mitigate the effects of the cessation of petrol subsidies.
Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, revealed this to journalists during a press briefing to detail some of his major economic policy plans for the country on Friday.
Mr Edun explained that the facility was a combination of grants and loans from the federal government to the 36 states and the FCT.
He stated that the cash was not included in the proposed $800 million World Bank loan to mitigate the effects of the subsidy elimination.
The minister stated that the Federal Government had to hold back N3 billion in order to avert a surge in inflation rates if the money were distributed all at once.
While the government cannot rely on borrowing to pay the national budget, the Minister stated that the government will mobilise money from increased oil production to earn more forex and provide an enabling climate for local and foreign businesses to come in and create jobs and strengthen the economy.
He based the administration’s economic agenda on generating income, better debt management, and revenue collection automation to plug leakages and provide an enabling climate for private sector participants to invest and thrive.
Meanwhile, Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum business Limited (NNPCL), who was also present at the press conference, stated that the oil business would have gone bankrupt if President Bola Tinubu had not eliminated the gasoline subsidy upon his resumption to office.
Mr Kyari also stated that the government will begin making more money soon as a result of increased crude oil production, which he stated was 1.7 million barrels as of Wednesday of this week, and the removal of the petrol subsidy.
