World Bank says subsidy removal means fiscal savings for Nigeria

World Bank Group on Wednesday complimented Nigeria for tackling the problem of subsidies in the hydrocarbon area.

David Malpass, the president, gave the compliments at a virtual Annual Meetings Press Conference in Washington D.C.

Nigeria Government expects to save as much as N1 trillion ($2.6 billion) annually, and create massive jobs following the removal of fuel subsidy in April 2020.

By reducing those subsidies and allowing gasoline prices to rise – it’s very hard for governments to do but there are substantial benefits.

It means that there are fiscal savings. It also means there are environmental benefits that are large, and it also allows markets to work better and to allocate resources better, he said.

“So, I think progress is being made in that area and it’s valuable,” Malpass said. He said Nigeria needs to take vital steps to strengthen the health system and the education system, “and we try to work in those areas”.

Also, he said the governance system and transparency are vital in order to reduce corruption within the system.

Responding to questions at the conference, Malpass said each country has to confront or has to think about where it wants to be in a post-COVID world that’s going to be very different from the pre-COVID world. That means a different way of people interacting, hopefully, better; a greener way of operating; and an emphasis on health care. I mentioned earlier that we’ve extended the emergency health response to include vaccines and distribution of vaccines for COVID, but it also has the benefit of helping the vaccination programs in other areas and the healthcare outreach in other areas that will be so valuable.