The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the N888bn allocated for subsidy payments in the 2012 budget should be enough to pay petroleum product importers.

She told journalists in Tokyo, Japan, recently that the fund had not been exhausted and should be enough to pay the subsidy bills for this year.

“We have not exhausted the fund and there may not be a need for a supplementary budget,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

The Federal Government spent over N1.7tn on fuel subsidy in 2011, but it had since tightened the payment system and is currently prosecuting some oil marketers for subsidy fraud.

The government is also making efforts to revamp the nation’s comatose refineries with about $1.6bn set aside for their turnaround maintenance.

The nation has 445,000-barrel per day crude oil refining capacity but has been relying on petroleum product imports for domestic consumption.

It has, however, invited the original builders of the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to help revamp them.

Also, the Federal Government has earmarked N971bn for petroleum subsidy in the 2013 budget estimates presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The government’s efforts, according to analysts, suggest that it may not completely remove fuel subsidy until it gets the local refineries working optimally.

via Punch