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Nigeria marginally reduces petrol prices, uncertain about subsidy removal

30 Dec 2015, 06:02 pm
Chibuike Oguh
Nigeria marginally reduces petrol prices, uncertain about subsidy removal

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- The new petrol-pricing template cuts retail prices to N86 ($0.43) per litre from N87 ($0.44).

- Petrol subsidies which cost the government N1 trillion in 2015 would no longer be paid.

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation headquarters, Abuja

The Nigerian government announced on Tuesday that it has reduced retail prices of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol in local parlance, as low crude oil prices continue to shock Africa’s biggest economy and oil exporter.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) announced the approval of a new petrol-pricing template, which cuts retail prices to N86 ($0.43) per litre from N87 ($0.44). The new pricing will take effect from January 1st to March 31st, 2016. There will be a quarterly review for the template, the agency’s Executive Secretary, Farouk Ahmed, said.

The PPPRA also announced that petrol subsidies, which cost the federal government N1 trillion in 2015, would no longer be paid on petrol under the new pricing template. It is not clear whether petrol subsidies would be reinstated if oil prices rebound.

The move by Nigeria comes after major oil exporters, especially members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), scrapped or reduced petrol subsidies in response to declining oil prices.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporting country, announced on Monday that petrol prices would rise by 50 percent after the kingdom slashed petrol subsidies in response to record budget deficits incurred in 2015.

In October, Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer after Nigeria, announced that it had cut spending by 50 percent this year after previously scrapping petrol subsidies.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst


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