The Minister of Finance says the national legislature has given the state company, Nilepet, a permission to remove fuel subsidy.

Stephen Dhieu says MPs Okayed the move in response to his request during the presentation of annual budget for this year.

A liter of fuel currently costs 22 pounds at the refilling stations.  If Nilepet removes the subsidy, the price of a litter will rise sharply, according to economists.

Mr Dhieu says removing the subsidy is one of the ways the government could save money.

“We’ve agreed that the issue of subsidies must come to an end so that we save more money for the government,” Mr Dhieu told reporters after meeting donors on economic reforms on Wednesday.

“The parliament at the time, when I gave speech, I requested that we must lift the subsidy on fuel and other essential commodities, and the parliament has given the Nile pet a green light to reduce the subsidy to Nile pet.”

However, some government officials have said that subsidization of fuel has led to malpractices within the state oil firm. Some senior officials have reportedly been thrown in.

Recently, the First Vice President, Taban Deng, said he discovered that there was corruption related to fuel in his office.

He said he had no information about a fuel supply, when he was told his office received 10 fuel trucks.

A team that he set up to probe the allegation is yet to submit its findings.