The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Cardoso Olayemi has stated that the Nigerian government has spent N6.2 trillion on foreign exchange subsidy in 2022 alone compared to N4.5 trillion spent on fuel subsidy.

He stated this in a recent 59th annual Bankers Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos.

Cardoso revealed that in the previous years, FX subsidy losses have been a major problem for the country’s revenue than fuel subsidies.

He said: “In 2022 alone, the potential revenue total revenue lost due to a less reflective FX regime is approximately N6.2 trillion compared to 4.5 trillion from fuel subsidies.

“We have all been complaining about the loss of government revenue from fuel subsidies, yet the loss from the past FX subsidy regime far exceeds that of fuel.

“The real elephant in the room is the losses from the FX regime.”.

In June 2023, FG had announced Naira floating and fuel subsidy removal.

The two policies had a lag impact on Nigeria’s economy as inflation stood at 33.88 percent and the exchange rate at N1672.69 per dollar from 22.41 percent and N463 between May and June 2023.