Confusion over N634bn kerosene subsidy MDAs to spend N400bn in 56 days - Finance minister

Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday, failed to shed light on the state of the subsidy on kerosene, as she was evasive on the issue.
Rather,  she said questions relating to kerosene subsidy should be directed at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
This was as she disclosed that the sum of N1.4 trillion had so far been paid to oil marketers as subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petroleum.
According to her, the sum of $14.06 billion accrued to the Excess Crude Account, while $9 billion had so far been spent on PMS subsidy.
She said this while speaking at a meeting with the Senate Joint Committee on Finance and Appropriation on the 2013 Budget and alleged over-bloated revenue estimates for the same year.
Okonjo-Iweala’s stand on kerosene subsidy was coming on the heels of the disclosure, last Thursday, that the Federal Government had reportedly spent N634 billion as subsidy in three years.
Chairman, House Committee on Downstream, Honourable Dakuku Peterside, disclosed this at a seminar organised by Downstream Group of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Giving a breakdown of the subsidy, he had said  N110,068,533,988 was spent in 2010;  N324,089,961,319  in 2011 and N200 billion  in 2012.
He had further said that the N634 billion used as kerosene subsidy amounted to one-third of what was spent as capital budget in 2013.
However, Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, was evasive when Senator Bukola Saraki asked if there is any payment for subsidy on kerosene.
When Saraki persisted, she simply retorted, “the payment is for petrol; it does not include kerosene. I said the payment is for PMS and that is petrol.
“I am really very clear that the payment is for petrol. I think the NNPC should answer the question on whether subsidy is paid on kerosene.”
Senator Ita Enang had also asked the minister to explain why government had not made available the quarterly report on how much was in the Excess Crude Account and how much was in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Responding, Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that, presently, there is a balance of $4.3 billion in the Excess Crude account, adding that its primary usage is for payment of oil subsidy and the SURE-P resources.
She also said there is the sum of $1 billion in the Sovereign Wealth Fund, adding that there had been no increment in the fund as the stakeholders, including the federal and state governments, have not reached any agreement on the issue.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance  has said  that federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have more than 400 billion to spend between now and the end of the year.
 She said this  at  the meeting with the Senate Joint Committee on Finance and Appropriation on the 2013 Budget and alleged over-bloated revenue estimates.
 According to her, the projection for the MDAs for the year ending was N1.05 trillion, but N1.01 trillion was released to them due to revenue shortfall.
 She also disclosed that the utilisation rate of what has been released so far was 72 per cent.
 “The meaning of this is that we still have in excess N260billion waiting to be used by MDAS. On top of that, we are now releasing N150billion.
“This means  that we should have up to N400billion still waiting to be utilised before the end of the year. This is because the money for the past three quarters had not been fully utilised,” she said.

- Tribune

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