The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has denied playing a role in the removal of fuel subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
The government had always been accused of pandering to the IMF policies in implementing total subsidy removal, after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced that subsidy was gone on May 29, 2023.
Afterwards, fuel prices soared, with a litre selling for over N1,200 currently.
However, at a press conference during the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, United States, the Fund’s African Region Director, Abebe Selassie, said the decision reached was a domestic Nigerian one.
“The decision was a domestic one. We don’t have programmes in Nigeria. Our role is limited to regular dialogue, as we have with other nations like Japan or the UK,” the official said, according to Vanguard.
While agreeing the need for investment in critical sectors of the country, like healthcare, infrastructure and education, he argued that the government’s choices regarding subsidy removal reflect its long-term strategy for sustainable economic growth.
“Ultimately, these are profound domestic and political decisions that the government had to make,” he said, expressing that the IMF sees these choices as steps toward greater public resource efficiency.”
“We recognise the significant social costs involved. The government can mitigate these by expanding social protection for the most vulnerable.” he said in reference to Nigerians affected by the impact of subsidy removal.
