By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has explained how the Federal Government is utilising savings from the removal of fuel and foreign exchange subsidies, saying the funds have been deployed to debt servicing, salary increases, student loans and other critical obligations.
Oyedele made the disclosure on Thursday at the ongoing 7th Africa Emerging Markets Forum in Abuja, where he also pledged to release a detailed breakdown of how the savings have been spent.
Responding to concerns over the utilisation of the subsidy savings, he described the question as legitimate and said the government owed Nigerians an explanation.
According to him, the combined cost of fuel subsidy and what he described as the “subsidy on foreign exchange” was about five per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
