As a palliative for eliminating the fuel subsidy after June, the federal government will provide N5,000 to 10 million households for a period of six months.
The project will be funded with a $800 million loan from the World Bank, or N371.6 billion at the current CBN exchange rate of N464 to the dollar.
This was revealed by Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, yesterday at the Nigerian briefing held in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the World Bank/International Monetary Fund spring meetings.
Zainab said that the $800 million had been bargained for and authorized by the Federal Executive Council and was now being considered by the parliament.”We roll,” she remarked, “as soon as the parliament passes it.
Additionally, we have been working concurrently on preparations along the the approval process. And that includes the building of the social register, which will be used for the electronic transfers of the funds.
The minister said that the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development is in charge of the program.
“With the help of the World Bank, they created that register. About 10 million families, or 50 million Nigerians, are included on the registry.
According to Zainab, the initial plan is to give each household a cash transfer of N5,000 each month for a period of six months.
Therefore, we are doing an assessment with the transition team to determine whether this is sufficient.
If it is insufficient, the nation must generate more money in order to cover more people, prolong the time period, or increase the amount, depending on what is ultimately agreed upon.
“There would be additional revenue that would now accrue to the Federation account when the subsidy is removed.”
In response to a question about how the palliative will affect the transportation industry, she said it will be considered whether some of the support will go to the industry directly, but no decision has been made as of yet.
Inflation could increase but would eventually moderate, according to Zainab. “It has that effect elsewhere in the globe where any type of support is removed. “
In order to deploy it swiftly and lessen the impact on the lives of the most vulnerable members of our society, that initial fund is necessary.
