No Return To Subsidies – Oyedele
BANGKOK, THAILAND: The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy has said that, despite the government’s earlier-this-month petrol discount, there will be no return to subsidies in any way. Oyedele,…
Nigeria removed its decades-old petrol subsidy regime in mid-2023, a move that triggered a sharp spike in pump prices and inflation but was intended to free up government revenue previously spent propping up fuel costs. The subsidy, alongside multiple foreign exchange rates that were also unified around the same time, had long been criticised by economists and multilateral lenders as unsustainable, opaque and prone to abuse, even as it shielded consumers from the full cost of imported fuel.
Taiwo Oyedele chairs the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee and has been a key voice defending the Tinubu administration's reform agenda. His comments, delivered in Bangkok, appear aimed at reassuring markets and the public that a recent petrol discount announced by government is a temporary, targeted intervention rather than a reversal of subsidy removal or FX unification. Leadership's report frames the remarks mainly around fuel subsidies, while BusinessDay broadens the story to include FX subsidies and government's growth targets, citing a 7% GDP growth projection that it says exceeds IMF forecasts — a figure not detailed in the other report. Neither account specifies the size or duration of the earlier petrol discount referenced, or how it squares with the no-subsidy stance.