Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday gave more insight into the
reasons behind increase of the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also
known as petrol.
The government on Wednesday had increased the price from N86.50 per litre to maximum of N145 per litre.
In a statement he signed by himself, Osinbajo noted that there are many
misconceptions that followed the announcement of new pump price.
According to him, the increase has nothing to do with subsidy removal
but was a result of foreign exchange problem in the face of dwindling
earnings.
In the statement titled ‘The Fuel Pricing Debate: Our Story’, Osinbajo said: “I have read the various observations about the fuel pricing regime and the attendant issues generated. All certainly have strong points.
In the statement titled ‘The Fuel Pricing Debate: Our Story’, Osinbajo said: “I have read the various observations about the fuel pricing regime and the attendant issues generated. All certainly have strong points.
“The most important issue of course is how to shield the poor from the
worst effects of the policy. I will hopefully address that in another
note.
“Permit me an explanation of the policy. First, the real issue is not a
removal of subsidy. At $40 a barrel there isn’t much of a subsidy to
remove.
“In any event, the President is probably one of the most convinced pro-subsidy advocates.
“What happened is as follows: our local consumption of fuel is almost
entirely imported. The NNPC exchanges crude from its joint venture share
to provide about 50% of local fuel consumption. The remaining 50% is
imported by major and independent marketers.
“These marketers up until three months ago sourced their foreign
exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria at the official rate. However,
since late last year, independent marketers have brought in little or
no fuel because they have been unable to get foreign exchange from the
CBN. The CBN simply did not have enough. (In April, oil earnings dipped
to $550 million. The amount required for fuel importation alone is about
$225million!) .
“Meanwhile, NNPC tried to cover the 50% shortfall by dedicating more
export crude for domestic consumption. Besides the short term depletion
of the Federation Account, which is where the FG and States are paid
from, and further cash-call debts pilling up, NNPC also lacked the
capacity to distribute 100% of local consumption around the country.
Previously, they were responsible for only about 50%. (Partly the reason
for the lingering scarcity).” He said
He said that the government realised that it was left with only one
option, which was to allow independent marketers and any Nigerian entity
to source their own foreign exchange and import fuel.
According to him, the government expected the marketers to source
foreign exchange at an average of about N285 to the dollar, (current
interbank rate).
He added: “They would then be restricted to selling at a price between N135 and N145 per litre.
“We expect that with competition, more private refineries, and NNPC
refineries working at full capacity, prices will drop considerably. Our
target is that by Q4 2018 we should be producing 70% of our fuel needs
locally. At the moment even if all the refineries are working optimally
they will produce just about 40% of our domestic fuel needs.
“You will notice that I have not mentioned other details of the PPPRA
cost template. I wanted to focus on the cost component largely
responsible for the substantial rise, namely foreign exchange. This is
therefore not a subsidy removal issue but a foreign exchange problem, in
the face of dwindling earnings.” He stated
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