Nigeria’s average daily petrol consumption has dropped by 28% since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the costly fuel subsidy at the end of May, industry regulator data shows.
The average daily petrol consumption fell to 48.43 million litres in June, down from the previous average of 66.9 million, according to figures released to Reuters by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
A subsidy had kept prices cheap for decades in Africa’s biggest economy but it became increasingly expensive for the country – the government spent $10 billion last year – leading to wider deficits and driving up government debt.
Since the subsidy was ended, the black market in neighbouring Cameroon, Benin and Togo that relied on petrol smuggled from Nigeria have reportedly collapsed.
Despite having spent $2.41 billion on the subsidy in the first five months, Nigeria could save up to $5.10 billion this year from scrapping the petrol subsidy and from FX reforms, the World Bank said on June 27.
