At least 7.1 million Nigerians may enter extreme poverty if the federal government fails to provide palliative measures after fuel subsidy removal amid the prevailing economic challenges.
The World Bank disclosed this in its June 2023 edition of the Nigeria Development Update on Tuesday in Abuja.
On assumption of office, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu introduced some economic policies, including fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange window unification, resulting in a hike in the cost of transportation and prices of goods and services.
The World Bank report on Nigeria Development Update noted that if no measures were implemented to cushion the rising 22.41 per cent inflation, insecure households will lose at least 5,700 income monthly.
“The poor and economically insecure households will face an equivalent income loss of N5,700 per month, and without compensation, an additional 7.1 million people will be pushed into poverty”, the report stated.
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The World Bank warned that many newly poor and economically insecure households will likely resort to consequential coping mechanisms, such as “not sending children to school, or not going to the health facilities to seek preventative healthcare or cutting back on nutritious dietary choices.”
Recall that the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey revealed that 133 million Nigerians are poor.
