According to Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria has received $800 million from the World Bank to expand its national social program before the withdrawal of its expensive fuel subsidies in June.
The largest economy in Africa set aside 3.36 trillion naira ($7.3 billion) for fuel subsidies this year through mid-2023, after which it made no further provisions for the cost, which was more than its expenditures on healthcare and education.
According to Ahmed, in order to lessen the impact of the elimination of subsidies on the most disadvantaged group of the population, the government is considering cash transfers and public transport buses for workers.
She stated that the country had ten million homes, or 50 million people, registered on its vulnerable list.
“The World Bank said in 2021 it expected the COVID-19 crisis to push over 11 million Nigerians into poverty by 2022, taking the total number of people classified as poor in the country to over 100 million.