The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, says N2 billion has so far been released to each state government from the N5 billion earmarked for palliative in light of the removal of fuel subsidy.

Edun stated this on Friday during a briefing in Abuja attended by key government officials including the Minister of Budget, Mr Abubakar Bagudu; and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari.

Also in attendance were the Director General of the Budget Office, Mrs Patience Oniha; the Senior Assistant to the President on Tax Reforms, Mr Zacch Adedeji; and the Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.

According to Edun, the partial release of the funds is to curb inflation.

On budget, the minister restated the position of President Bola Tinubu that the nation could not continue to service its debts with over 90 percent of its revenue.

For his part, Kyari noted that the consumption of Petrol Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, had dropped from 66.6 million litres to 46 million litres daily.

According to him, production has increased to 1.6 million barrels per day.