Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum
resources, says consultations are ongoing to decide if the pump price of petrol
will be reduced.
This, he said, is related to the drop in crude oil prices.
As at 9pm on Friday, Brent crude which is the global
benchmark was trading at $34.88 per barrel.
This has, in turn, resulted in a drop in the landing cost of
petrol.
As of Tuesday, March 10, the landing cost of petrol was
N95.16 per litre according to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency
(PPPRA).
Subsequently, the expected open market price of petrol was
N114.53 per litre.
“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,” he told journalists in Abuja on Friday.
Sylva had visited the presidential villa in Aso Rock
alongside Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning,
and Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
They visited President Muhammadu Buhari to submit an interim
report on the impact of coronavirus on the economy.
Commenting on the report submitted to the president, Ahmed
said: “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.
“So as we finish our consultations next week, we will be
expecting some approvals and then we will be meeting with you to inform you of
the specific approvals that we have been able to obtain from his excellency the
president.”
According to Ahmed, the federal government has released N285
billion for the implementation of the 2020 budget and $220 million as
counterpart funding for railway projects.
The ministries of transport, Niger Delta and works and
housing were said to have received some of the released funds
Emefiele assured that the committee will come up with a
mechanism that will “make it possible both for the federal and the state
government to be able to conduct their businesses” despite reduced oil prices.
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