(Ecofin Agency) - The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has been advised by the World Bank on Wednesday, to take advantage of the global oil prices that has severely dropped by removing fuel subsidy as scarcity persists.

John Litwack, World Bank’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, who had declared this at the inauguration of the new edition of the Nigeria Economic Report, noted that the bank had predicted unceasing drop in the price of crude oil globally. He added that now is the time for the government to act fast as there is a chance that the cost of fuel subsidy in the country might increase.

“The fuel subsidy appears to have vast modest benefits for the majority of citizens, but the costs are quite high.There is a strong tendency for the cost of fuel subsidy to increase over time as increasing domestic demand for petrol outpaces growth in oil output or revenues. The $35 billion cost of fuel subsidy during 2010 – 2014 was one of the reasons Nigeria was unable to accumulate a fiscal reserve in the Excess Crude Account that could have protected the country from the recent oil price shock”, Litwack told Oil And Gas Press.