The Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) has denied advising the Nigerian authorities to take away gasoline subsidy, saying it was a choice taken by President Bola Tinubu.
It might be recalled that President Tinubu in his inaugural speech on Could 29, 2023, had declared “subsidy is gone”, sparking a wave of actions and reactions which have seen the value of petrol rise from N185 per liter to N1,200 presently and contributing considerably to inflation which has spiralled to 32.7 per cent.
The Tinubu-led authorities had additionally floated the foreign money and eliminated subsidy on electrical energy.
IMF’s African Area Director, Abebe Selassie, talking with journalists on the sidelines of the 2024 IMF and World Financial institution Annual Conferences in Washington DC, said that the choice to take away subsidies in Nigeria was solely a home choice.
“The choice was a home one. It was President Tinubu’s choice. We don’t have programmes in Nigeria. Our position is proscribed to common dialogue, as we have now with different nations like Japan or the UK,” he stated.
The IMF African Area Director has lauded the insurance policies and needed the Federal Authorities to roll out extra programmes to guard weak teams towards the consequences of the reforms.
“We acknowledge the numerous social prices concerned,” Abebe stated. “The federal government can mitigate these by increasing social safety for essentially the most weak.”
