The Federal Government has secured $800m from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to provide post-petroleum subsidy palliatives for over 50 million Nigerians ahead of June 2023.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, revealed this to State House correspondents on Wednesday, after this week’s Federal Executive Council chaired by the President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
According to Ahmed, the $800m forms the first tranche of palliatives ready to be disbursed to 10 million households in form of cash.
She said, “There’s a provision (of the Petroleum Industry Act) that says 18 months after the effectiveness of the PIA that all petroleum products must be deregulated. That 18 month takes us to June 2023.
“Also, when we were working on the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Appropriation Act, we made that provision to enable us to exit fuel subsidy by June 2023.
“We’re on course, we’re having different stakeholder engagements, we’ve secured some funding from the World Bank, that is the first tranche of palliatives that will enable us to give cash transfers to the most vulnerable in our society that have now been registered in a national social register.
