Osinbajo: FG Saves N1.4trn from Stopped Oil Subsidy

By Ibrahim Shuaibu

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, has disclosed that the Federal Government has saved N1.4 trillion from the discontinuance of oil subsidy.

He also assured Nigerians that very soon, the foreign exchange market will stabilize going by some radical policies already introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“With the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, there has been a significant increase in the availability of petrol throughout the country plus the savings of N1.4 trillion on subsidy payments alone”.

The Vice President who spoke in Kano on Thursday during the third day of the 15th Joint Planning Board and National Council on development meeting, urged Nigerians to restore confidence in President  Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, insisting that soonest, the current economic problems will become a thing of the past.

“Also, with a more flexible exchange rate regime, we will have to decrease the pressure on the external reserve. In the short run, of course, there should be consequences for inflation. We expect that with greater priority we have seen in the implementation of the policy by the CBN, the foreign exchange market will stabilize and confidence will be restored.

“The adoption of SDGs in September 2015 was intended to place our world on the part of sustainable development by the year 2030. The 17 SDGs, which combined economic, social and environmental objectives, are intended to be universal unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were made solely for developing countries.

“The universal application of the SDGs and their 169 targets show that they are a menu of options. This allows the implementation to take count of different national realities, capacities, policies and priorities.

“In the Nigerian context, some of the issues that must engage our minds will lead to economic diversification, sustain economic growth, eradication of extreme poverty, promoting social inclusion, creating jobs, sparring environmental degradation, including climate change.”