Nigeria has secured $800m from the World Bank to scale up its national social programme ahead of the removal of its costly but popular subsidies on petrol in June, finance minister Zainab Ahmed said on Wednesday. Africa’s biggest economy set aside $7.3bn this year to spend on petrol subsidies until mid-2023, after which it has made no provision for the expense, which cost more than its spending on health care and education. Ahmed said the government was considering cash transfers and mass transit buses for workers to ease the pain of the subsidy removal on the most vulnerable segment of its population. She added that the country has registered 10-million households, which is equivalent to 50-million people on its vulnerable list. Last week, labour minister Chris Ngige recommended that Tinubu’s new administration give public sector workers pay rises after removing a fuel subsidy in June. Tinubu will take office in May, when Buhari steps down.
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