Nigeria has secured $800 million from the World Bank to scale up its national social program ahead of the removal of its costly but popular subsidies on petrol in June, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said on Wednesday.
Africa's
biggest economy set aside 3.36 trillion naira ($7.3 billion) this year to spend
on petrol subsidies until mid-2023, after which it has made no provision for
the expense, which cost more than its spending on healthcare and education.
Ahmed
said the government was considering cash transfers and mass transit buses for
workers to ease the pain of the subsidy removal on the most vulnerable segment
of its population.
She
added that the country has registered ten million households, which is
equivalent to 50 million people on its vulnerable list.
"Several
things are still on plan," Ahmed told reporters in Abuja after the
government's cabinet meeting.
"Some
we can start executing quickly while some are of long-term
implementation."
The
World Bank said in 2021 it expected the COVID-19 crisis to push over 11 million
Nigerians into poverty by 2022, taking the total number of people classified as
poor in the country to over 100 million. The total population is estimated at
200 million.
Ahmed
said discussions were going on at different levels of government and with
members of the incoming administration of President-elect Bola Tinubu on the
subsidy removal.
Last
week, Labour Minister Chris Ngige recommended that Tinubu's new administration
give public sector workers pay rises after removing a fuel subsidy in June.
Tinubu will take office in May, when Buhari steps down.
Many
Nigerians regard cheap subsidised fuel as at least one benefit they receive
from the state, which fails to deliver other basic services such as electricity
and security despite receiving billions of dollars every year from oil exports.
Source: Reuters