IMF said the claim by NNPC that Nigeria consumes over 66 million litres of petroleum per day should be probed.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised doubts over
the volume of fuel consumption by Nigeria as claimed by the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company (NNPC).
This comes amid criticisms from various quarters regarding
the authenticity of the latest figures by NNPP which showed that Nigeria
consumes as much as 66.8 million litres of petrol daily, with the nation being
denied remittances from oil sales due to humongous monthly subsidies.
In its latest statement issued after its 1V mission in
Nigeria, IMF warned that fiscal transparency remained critical for a sound
fiscal policy for the country, especially in the face of a double whammy of
poor revenue mobilisation and huge subsidies.
The international lender's statement also acknowledged
efforts by the authorities to publish the annual fiscal report of the
state-owned NNPC since 2019, but expressed worries over prevalent uncertainties
regarding the nature of tax write-offs and fuel consumption volumes.
The statement partly read: “The mission recommended a closer
look at the nature of NNPC’s financial commitments to the government and the
costing details of the fuel subsidy, including through a financial audit.
“Stronger cash management and better coordination among key
public institutions is needed to increase the realism of budgetary forecasts
and reduce reliance on central bank overdrafts.”
The IMF is further worried that the opaque nature of NNPC's
finance was coming at a time when elevated fiscal deficits have subjected
public finance to stress.
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