BusinessOil & GasPetrol Subsidy Eroded Revenues that Should be Available to Fund the 2021 Budget – Buhari

https://www.westafricanpilotnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DPR-Pump-1-30-21-1280x853.jpg

ABUJA — The cost of petrol subsidy depleted revenue that should have been available to fund the 2021 budget according to President Muhammad Buhari.

The president who spoke on Thursday while presenting the 2022 appropriation bill at the national assembly, said an increase in the pump price of petrol was due to opposition from the labour unions and other stakeholders.

He noted that the subsidy significantly destroyed revenues that should have been available to fund the budget.

“The national assembly will recall that in March 2020 the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency announced that the price of petrol would henceforth be determined by market forces.

“However, as the combination of rising crude oil prices and exchange rate combined to push the price above the hitherto regulated price of 145 Naira per litre, opposition against the policy of price deregulation hardened on the part of labour unions in particular.

“Government had to suspend further upward price adjustments while engaging labour on the subject. This petrol subsidy significantly eroded revenues that should have been available to fund the budget.

“On a positive note, we surpassed the non-oil taxes target by eleven (11) percent in aggregate. The sustained improvement in non-oil taxes indicates that some of our revenue reforms are yielding positive results. We expect further improvement in revenue collections later in the year as more corporate entities file their tax returns and we accelerate the implementation of our revenue reforms,” Buhari said.

Beloved John (Staff Writer)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com