CPPE warns against return to petrol subsidy, proposes targeted relief

The organisation said the subsidy debate should not be reduced to the issue of pump prices, arguing that it has wider implications for Nigeria’s fiscal sustainability, foreign exchange stability, investment, domestic refining, industrialisation, employment and energy security.“The central policy question is therefore not whether Nigeria should return to the old subsidy regime, but how to preserve the gains of the reform while reducing its social costs and translating the resulting fiscal space into tangible improvements in citizens’ welfare,” CPPE said.“The more consequential issue is how Nigeria can convert the gains of the reform into lower structural costs, stronger domestic production, improved competitiveness, greater energy security and measurable improvements in citizens’ welfare,” it said.