Renowned economist and the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane has asserted that subsidy was not removed by the federal government but only reduced.
He made this assertion when he appeared on Channels Television’s on Sunday evening in an interview monitored by Africa Today News, New York.
During the programme, Rewane also highlighted the effects of the reduction in fuel subsidy and how it has affected Nigerian salary earners.
“At the inauguration, it was said that subsidy was gone but subsidy was actually reduced,” he said.
According to Rewane: “There is the convergence of exchange rates and reducing the windows into one. The consequence of that money has been transferred from consumers to the government.
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“Subsidies are reversed taxes; if you reduce them, you increase the people’s taxes and reduce their income. What has happened is that government revenue has increased by 44% between May and June. Money has been transferred to the government but what is the government doing with it?
“The consumers, on the other hand, had a minimum wage, which in dollar terms was 40 dollars in 2002. In 2019, it was about 70 dollars but it has now been reduced to 24 dollars.”
Recall that Rewane had days ago declared that for the Nigerian economy to bounce back with a strong currency, the government must summon the courage to free it from the interest of a few rich people.
He said the Naira would begin to regain value again but added that this might not happen until the early parts of 2024.
Rewane, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday monitored by Africa Today News, New York, said that the government must allow the market to determine pricing.
He noted that the palliatives introduced by the Federal Government in the wake of the removal of fuel subsidy won’t address the fundamental issues affecting the economy but only a temporary measure.