Nigeria: Petrol subsidy to be cut by half

NIGERIA plans to cut subsidies on petroleum products by half next year after sharp falls in global crude prices spurred the government to revise its 2015 budget downwards, data from the revised budget showed on Friday. President Goodluck Jonathan submitted the revised budget figures to legislators last week, proposing to spend 458.68 billion naira (about R28.4bn) on petrol subsidy next year, down from 971.14bn naira presented for this year. It also assumed further cuts to petrol subsidies in 2016 to 408.68bn naira and 371.18bn naira for 2017. Nigeria’s finance minister has proposed lowering the assumed benchmark oil price for the country’s 2015 budget to $73 per barrel from the $78 proposed in September, after global crude prices collapsed. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Thursday that declines in the price of oil, which has lost almost 30 percent since July, would impact Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer, requiring the government to reduce non-essential spending and raise more revenues. – Reuters