Financial Energy Review
As the federal government keeps a date with June 2023 as the month of the final removal of petrol subsidy, it has also outlined key factors such as the availability of forex, six month uninterrupted supplies and buffers on the economy and the citizen as major consideration. The FG said these are being considered to make the date a reality. And as well determine when the final removal of fuel subsidy will take place.
The government maintained that the date of removal will be determined by these indices to ensure the move would not be too hard on the average Nigerians.
Ambassador Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, the Permanent Secretary,Ministry of Petroleum Resources explained this at the press briefing organized to mark the end of the 2023 Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2023).
According to him the government is currently working to ensure that forex is made available for those that would do import on account of the subsidy removal.
He said that efforts are also being made to ensure that supplies are available for a minimum of six months ahead to ensure that disruptions will be minimal.
”Subsidy removal is one that had been with us for a long time. And I want to tell you that my Minister is taking it very seriously and all of us in the industry because we totally understand the importance of removal of subsidy. But we also understand the greater importance of the citizens in the scheme of things. And as we speak we are still taking a very close look at how best we can achieve subsidy without disrupting the entire ecosystem of livelihood in Nigeria because that is our responsibility as government.
“We have to ensure that buffers are in place. We have to ensure that forex is made available for those that would import going forward from there. There is quite a lot we need to put in place and we have to ensure that supplies are available for a minimum of six months ahead to ensure that when we do that, the disruptions will be minimal. There are quite a number of factors that we need to look at but yes, government is committed to removal but we cannot be too specific until we are sure that every indices have been considered to ensure that the effect is not too hard on the average Nigerian” he said.
