…. Says petrol still selling below market price
Amid ongoing pricing and supply crises in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil industry, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, has tasked the Federal Government to prioritize building and accelerating a social safety net that protects vulnerable citizens.
But taking this position in an interview with Arise TV yesterday, the Resident Representative of the IMF in Nigeria, Dr. Christian Ebeke, also hinted that petrol is still selling below market price, indicating the possibility of a further upward price movement.
Recall that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has also taken a similar position.
The IMF executive expressed worry that Nigerians are going through significant hardship due to policies being implemented by the present Federal Government.
Ebeke stated: “I think this upward adjustment of petrol price at the pump comes at a time Nigerians are already feeling significant hardship.
“There is a lot of pain for Nigerians coming from multiple shocks, compounded shocks, including high inflation, high food inflation. Now, the country is dealing with devastating floods, among others.
“So the upward adjustment to pump rice comes at that particular moment when the economy is also dealing with multiple shocks and Nigerians are feeling this pain.
“I would advise that as we clearly stated in our annual review of the Nigerian economy which we published in May and our advice is very clear.
It is important to strengthen social protection in Nigeria. It is important to accelerate the mechanism and the disbursement of this support to the most vulnerable, so they can cope with this multiple shocks they are actually facing now.
The programme the Federal Government has is reaching out to 15 million households, this is the way to go. This programme should be accelerated, cushioning the impact of the pump price policy on the most vulnerable is the immediate priority
Supporting the earlier position of the NNPCL that the current pump prices of petrol were not yet market reflective, Ebeke said: “I think the starting point should be to ensure that there is enough supply stability of this product. The queues that we see at gas stations needs to be addressed.
“We also understand that for a long time, price at the pump has not been reflective of market conditions and this led to challenges to petrol supply and challenging situation also falls for NNPC.
“So our position again is while you are making these adjustments, it is very important to be mindful of the potential impact these have on the most vulnerable. Again, the narrative should really be about how to accelerate support to the most vulnerable, so they can cope with this type of shock.
Now, if this upward adjustment brings enough supply in the market and have addressed fuel scarcity, this will be a very good development for many Nigerians because the scarcity is not really helping the productive capacity of the country and also with this situation, people normally don’t get a life”.
Dangote supply, distribution
Ebeke also expressed the view that the controversy surrounding the earlier claims that NNPCL would be the sole distributor of Dangote Refinery petroleum products was better resolved in favour of consumers if availability and competition were in place.
He stated: “Availability of supply, competition, those are principles that usually work in favour of consumers. They bring good product quality when you have competition, and when you have competition, you ensure that there will be stability of the supply in the market.
“Again, everything that works in favour of those principles is something we will welcome and the market should be a market where the two principles are clearly achieved.
“Stability in supply with competition will ensure that consumers can have the best deal and the best bargain.”
Reacting to the position of the Federal
Katsina musawa