The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that in the first quarter of 2022, Nigeria spent N1.51tn on the imports of premium motor spirit only.
This accounts for 25.54 percent of the total imports for this quarter, and an increase of 17.05 percent when compared to the N1.29tn spent on importing fuel in Q1 2021.
As usual, the PMS import tops the list of imported products for this quarter.
Figures from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited showed that the oil firm spent N210.38bn, N219.78bn, and N245.77bn as subsidies on petrol in January, February, and March 2022 respectively.
This means that a total of N675.93bn was spent on fuel subsidies in Q1 2022.
The amount spent on fuel subsidies is 44.86 percent of the amount spent on fuel imports.
Economic and energy experts have continued to decry the rising cost of fuel subsidies to the Federal Government.
The World Bank, in its Africa’s Pulse report, said increasing fuel subsidy puts the Nigerian economy at a high risk as subsidy payments could significantly impact public finance and pose debt sustainability concerns.
Although the Federal Government had planned to stop paying fuel subsidies by June 2022, the government eventually backtracked on the plan.
