According to the most recent data from the state-owned company, Nigeria’s NNPC spent $9.7 billion on a petrol subsidy last year, an expenditure the government has attributed to the country’s declining public finances.
According to its data, NNPC failed to deposit money into federal accounts last year, leaving a gap in the government’s budget at a time when it had previously warned that it would be unable to stimulate the economy due to low revenues and huge deficits.
Nigeria’s 200 million-person nation’s successive governments have attempted and failed to eliminate or reduce the subsidy, which is a politically delicate topic. Due to years of neglect, local refineries in Nigeria had to close, so almost all of the country’s refined fuels are imported.
According to Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, the nation would maintain its costly but popular petrol subsidy until mid-2023 and set aside 3.36 trillion naira ($7.5 bln) to spend on it.