By Chioma Iruke
The Nigerian Government has revealed that petroleum subsidy is catered for in the 2022 budget.
The revelation was made known by the Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari on Wednesday at the opening of a three-day public hearing on the 2022 to 2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
The public hearing is organised by the Senate to examine the two fiscal documents that provide the bases for the annual national budget.
Kyari assured Nigerians that stakeholders’ engagement is still ongoing to ascertain when and how best to implement a hike in the pump price of PMS which currently stands at =N=162 per litre.
According to the NNPC GMD, subsidy was provided in the 2022 budget because it is not very clear if the stakeholders’ engagement would end before the second quarter of 2022.
This recent revelation would allay the fears of Nigerians who have predicted a hike in the prices of Petroleum products in the country.
Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, representatives of the government, and civil society organisations are among the stakeholders involved in the engagement.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Adeola Olamilekan, informed the participants that the public hearing will enable the Lawmakers understand the rationale behind the various parameters for the 2022 budget as contained in the MTEF and FSP.
