The International Monetary Fund warned that with Nigeria’s fuel subsidy payout averaging N500 billion monthly, total expenditure on subsidy could hit a record N6 trillion mark by year-end.
IMF’s Resident Representative for Nigeria, Mr Ari Aisen revealed that Nigeria received a total of $6.8 billion in facilities from the IMF following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The IMF chief expressed worry that many African countries, including Nigeria risk sliding into critical debt servicing problems unless urgent actions were explored to significantly raise revenue.
Aisen noted that over 80 per cent of the federal government’s revenue was committed to debt service, a situation he described as an existential problem