We saved $20 billion by eliminating subsidies and floating exchange rates, says Edun – Nigeria – The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Wale Edun said the country’s decision to remove petrol subsidies and introduce market pricing for foreign exchange saved the country about $20 billion.

At an event in Abuja to mark the first 100 days in office of the Head of the Public Service of the Federation (HoSF), Esther Wolso-Jack, Edun said five per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had previously been spent on subsidy. was deleted.

He emphasized the importance of savings, breaking down its potential impact. “If you say GDP averaged, say, $400 billion, then five percent of that is $20 billion that could go to infrastructure, health care, social services and education,” he said.

Edun also said that funds depleted by subsidies are redirected to government coffers for critical development purposes. Speaking on the transformative nature of these economic reforms, Edun added: “The real change that has come with Mr. President’s measures is that no one can wake up and their goal is to access cheap finance; a cheap swap of central bank funding that they can now turn around and they become rich overnight with no added value, doing virtually nothing except knowing the right people.”

The minister also spoke about the ineffectiveness of the gasoline subsidy system, which previously allowed people to make significant profits with minimal contribution to the economy.

“Similarly, they can no longer try to be part of the new peak market and the very ineffective gasoline subsidy regime as a way to make instant money,” Edun added.