Wale Edun, the minister of finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, announced on Thursday that the federal government has formally stopped providing fuel and foreign exchange subsidies.
The announcement was made by the minister in Abuja during the World Bank’s presentation of the Nigeria Development Update.
The government claimed that the subsidies had depleted the nation’s economy to the tune of N10 trillion, or 5% of Nigeria’s GDP.
“FX and fuel subsidies are eliminated,” said Edun.
A new plan centered on housing finance has been unveiled by the government to address the urgent problem of unemployment. This program includes a mortgage plan with interest rates close to zero percent, with the goal of increasing construction activity and creating a substantial number of jobs.
According to Edun, “the plan will be anchored around mortgage and housing financing.”
Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), provided information about the recent half-percent interest rate hike during the same event.
He claimed that the decision to raise the rate was the result of the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) anticipation of the most recent inflation trends.
According to Cardoso, “moving forward, policies and decisions will be based on evidence and data.”