CPPE: Escalating Petrol Prices Not Enough to Return to Old Subsidy Regime at ₦19.16trn Annually

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has stated that the severe pressures arising from the current escalation in petrol prices are not enough for Nigeria to return to the old subsidy regime at a fiscal cost of N19.16 trillion annually. The CPPE said the subsidy debate should not be viewed solely through the lens of pump prices because of its wider implications for fiscal sustainability, foreign-exchange stability, investment, domestic refining, industrialisation, employment, and energy security. It stated that the central policy question is 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. The CPPE expressed these views in its policy brief on fuel subsidy titled 'Petrol Subsidy: Preserving Reform Gains While Protecting...'.

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