Nigeria spent 1.59 trillion naira ($3.8 billion) on fuel subsidies in the first half of the year, and accumulated a $1.2 billion shortfall in financing oil and gas projects, a report by the state-owned Nigerian Oil Company (NNPC) showed.
The report, submitted to the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee and seen by Archyde.com, highlights Nigeria’s budget woes caused by increases in fuel costs and limited oil production.
The report showed that the Nigerian Petroleum Company did not transfer funds to federal accounts during the year. Last year, Nigeria spent about 100 billion naira per month on fuel subsidies.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, delayed the removal of fuel subsidies in January amid rising inflation in the run-up to next year’s presidential election.
Nigeria imports all its refined products due to the suspension of local refineries years ago.