Photo Credit: Ajapareporter.com…CONTINUE READING
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has explained why it advised Nigeria to remove fuel subsidies, adding that the subsidy regime was robbing the poor for the rich.
The Director of the African Department of the Fund, Mr. Abebe Selassie, provided insights into the organisation’s position, at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington DC. According to him, the Fund had provided robust content and how the poor could benefit from the policy in the provision of social safety nets.
His words: “Subsidies are about resource allocation internally within Nigeria. So Nigerians, the people of Nigeria pay for these subsidies.
“And what’s the reason why we counsel against such generalised subsidies is very simple. It tends to be highly regressive, meaning the benefits of such you know, fuel subsidies tend to accrue to the rich and segments to reach out to people and the poor people.
“So it’s people that are driving these large cars, with big houses are wanting to see subsidised fuel. They’re the ones benefiting relative to the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria.
US House passes bills to aid Ukraine, Israel, threatens TikTok ban
Photo Credit: Ajapareporter.com
Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives passed legislation Saturday to provide key aid to Ukraine and Israel and bolster Taiwan while also threatening a ban on TikTok if it fails to divest from Beijing.
The bills, passed in a rare Saturday session, were approved in quick succession by overwhelming bipartisan votes, though they leave the future of House Speaker Mike Johnson in some doubt as he seeks to fend off angry far-right detractors.
Photo Credit: Ajapareporter.com News
US President Joe Biden welcomed the votes, saying in a statement vercritical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and other locations… and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
He praised lawmakers who came together across party lines “to answer history’s call.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky also welcomed the long-delayed aid package, saying the military and economic assistance would “save thousands and thousands of lives.”
Not surprisingly, Russia took the opposite view.
“It will further enrich the United States of America and ruin Ukraine even more, by killing even more Ukrainians because of the Kyiv regime,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, state news agency TASS reported.