Buhari government not planning to remove petrol subsidies, Nigerian minister of finance says in Washington D.C.

The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not planning to remove petrol subsidies at the moment as recommended by the International Monetary Fund, the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed on Sunday.

“There is no imminent plan to remove fuel subsidies,” the Minister said at a press conference in Washington D.C. at the end of the 2019 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.

She said she agreed in principle that removing fuel subsidies to invest in infrastructure was good, but not without necessary buffers to cushion the resulting negative effects, adding that those buffers are nonexistent in Nigeria at the moment.

“We are not yet at a the point of removing fuel subsidies,” she added.

As the head of the Nigerian delegation in the Spring Meetings, the Minister addressed journalists alongside the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emiefele and Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning.

Ahmed and others characterized the Spring Meetings as a clear validation that the Nigerian economy was healthy, having exited recession and starting to grow again.

According to Emiefele, the Nigerian economy is on a healthy trajectory with an inflation rate at about 11 percent and with increased foreign reserves.

To Udoma, the economy is healthy and growing, however it will take time for momentum to build up.

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