Nigeria is concerned that, with the low revenue
Christine Lagarde,
Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the Nigeria
government to remove fuel subsidy and channel the money to the provision of
social amenities usatimes.cc for the country.
Speaking during a press
conference at the ongoing joint annual spring meetings with the World Bank in
Washington DC, Lag
usanews.cc arde stated that with the low revenue the country is
generating, removing fuel subsidy is the best option, as it would enable it
save enough funds to provide the necessary social needs of the people.
She said, “I will give
you the general principle. For various reasons and as a general principle, we
believe that removing fossil fuel subsidies is the right way to go. If you look
at our numbe
news rs from 2015, it is no less than about $5.2tn that is spent on fuel
subsidies and the consequences thereof. And the Fiscal Affairs Department has
actually identified how much would have been saved fiscally but also in terms
of human lives if there had been the right price on carbon emission as of 2015.
Numbers are quite staggering.
“I would add as a
footnote as far as Nigeria is concerned that, with the low revenue mobilisation
that exists in the country in terms of tax to GDP, Nigeria is amongst the
lowest. A real effort has to be done in order to maintain a good public finance
situation for the country. And in order to direct investment towards health,
education, and infrastructure.
“If that was to happen,
then there would be more public spending available to build hospitals, to build
roads, to build schools, and to support education and health for the people.”
She added that the
continuous payment of fuel subsidy could lead to a lack of social protection
safety net for the people.
“Now, how this is done
is the more complicated path because there has to be a social protection safety
net that is in place so that the most exposed in the population do not take the
brunt of the removal of subsidies principle. So that is the position we take.”
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