The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, says N2 billion has so far been released to each state government from the N5 billion earmarked for palliative in light of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Edun stated this today during a briefing in Abuja attended by key government officials, stating that the partial release of the funds is to curb inflation, arguing that the nation could not continue to service its debts with over 90 percent of its revenue.
On his part, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari noted that the consumption of Petrol Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, had dropped from 66.6 million litres to 46 million litres daily, with production increased to 1.6 million barrels per day.
Also present at the meeting was the Minister of Budget, Abubakar Bagudu;
Director General of the Budget Office, Patience Oniha; the Senior Assistant to the President on Tax Reforms, Mr Zacch Adedeji; and the Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.
