• February 18, 2025

 

The Federal Government says it is engaged in consultations to decide whether or not petrol prices will be reduced for Nigerians in view of the global drop in crude oil prices caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, announced this to journalists after the Presidential committee on the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on Nigeria’s economy, presented an interim report to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa, on Friday.

The committee is chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, and has other members as Sylva; the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele; Group General Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; among others.

Sylva was reminded by reporters that dwindling crude oil prices translate to lower domestic prices for huge importers of refined petroleum products like Nigeria, and a price slash had actually resulted in the past.

He responded: “On when the price of PMS is likely to be reduced considering the drop the crude oil price, this is a developing issue. We are still consulting, we are still following it closely. Of course, usually, the product prices follow the crude oil price but we are still consulting, we’ll get back to you Please, be patient.”

Meanwhile, Ahmed explained that the President directed the committee to continue with its expansive consultations and turn in an updated report by next week, but that the economy must continue to be run as best as possible in the face of challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

She disclosed that about N285 billion had been released to various government agencies for implementation of the 2020 Budget, as at last Tuesday.

According to the Minister: “What we have been mandated to do is to ensure that the business of government continues to run as much as possible normally, that government agencies are funded but there must be continuous investments in critical infrastructure that would ensure continuous growth and also concentrate on programmes and projects that will enhance employment of our people.

“We are looking at ways and means in which the revenue of government will be stabilized and that we are able to fund the states through the FAAC process at a level that is averagely expected and planned for both the federal as well as the National budget.

“As at Tuesday this week, we have released N285 billion to a number of agencies, we prioritize the releases to the critical infrastructure agencies. But we have also made the releases for education as well as health. So the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Works and Housing, Niger Delta, a number of ministries and agencies that have important infrastructure projects have got their funds.

Also this week we have been able to release to the Ministry of Transport the counterpart funding provided for in our budget that is required for the important railway projects that are currently ongoing, the finances from the China EXIM Bank.

“So they are the funds that have been released this week. So in addition to the N285 billion, there is up to about $220 million that has been released this week for counterpart funding for railway projects.”

On his part, Emefiele waved aside concerns about travel ban to contain the disease spread, declaring that Nigeria has enviable health safety checks at its international airports, and there is no cause for alarm yet.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.