Nigeria’s revenue dropped by 65%, says finance minister

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, says Nigeria’s revenue has dropped by about 65 per cent.

She said this necessitated the decision of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to discontinue the payment of petrol subsidy.

Ahmed said this on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme on Monday which was monitored by our correspondent.

She said if the petrol subsidy returns, it would lead to fuel scarcity because the government would not be able to pay marketers.

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The minister stated, “What we have been doing is not sustainable. If we bring back fuel subsidy, we will fail because we will not be able to pay it and the problem of disputes with marketers will come back, then we will have queues again. We just cannot afford it and therefore this deregulation must be made to work.

“We appeal to Nigerians to understand that in the past when subsidy was done, we could afford to do it but right now, we cannot pay. Remember that right now our revenue has gone down by about 65 per cent. So, it is not business as usual. We cannot do what we used to do anymore.”

She said Nigeria is currently facing difficult times like many other countries around the world.

The minister stated that the price of petrol would henceforth be determined by the price of crude oil.

When asked if subsidy would return if the price of crude oil bounces back to how it was in previous years, Ahmed said it was unlikely that would happen.

She, however, said the decision remains that subsidy would not return.