Nigeria’s petrol subsidy could have cost the government as much as N53 trillion under current market conditions and pushed the naira to around N3,500 per dollar, Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), has said.
Adedeji said the projected cost reflects the fiscal and foreign exchange pressures Nigeria would have faced if the government had retained the subsidy and failed to reform the exchange-rate system.
“The subsidy today would have been N53 trillion if Mr President had not removed it, given what is happening in Iran, given what is happening globally,” Adedeji said during an interview on Channels Television.
“And I tell you the ripple effect of that. The exchange rate today would have been at N3,500 if that had not been done,” he added.
The NRS chairman said the potential subsidy bill would have represented a significant share of Nigeria’s budget, arguing that maintaining the policy would have left the government with an unsustainable fiscal obligation.
