President Muhammadu Buhari says petrol subsidy will end by 2023, saying it was no longer sustainable in the current fiscal impact.
He said discontinuing the policy was necessary for the country to manage its limited resources, stating that, there would be alternative provisions to curb the effects of the removal.
The president stated this during the presentation of the proposed 2023 budget to the National Assembly, in Abuja.
Buhari, presented a record N20.51 trillion 2023 appropriation.
“Petrol subsidy has been a recurring and controversial public policy issue in our country since the early eighties. However, its current fiscal impact has clearly shown that the policy is unsustainable.
He said, “As we seek to grow our government revenues, we must also focus on the efficiency of utilisation of our limited resources. Critical steps we are taking include immediate implementation of additional measures towards reducing the cost of governance and the discontinuation of fuel subsidy in 2023 as announced earlier.”
The President said, “We are however mindful of the fact that reducing government spending too drastically can be socially destabilising, and so will continue to implement programmes to support the more vulnerable segments of society”.
This year, the federal government has projected to spend N4 trillion on petrol subsidies, and another estimated N6.7 trillion in 2023 (if subsidy is not removed).