Consultations on petrol price still ongoing, says PPPRA
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency has said the guiding prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) it released do not translate to an increase in the pump price as consultations are still ongoing with stakeholders.
Markets Reporters had earlier reported that Nigerians hoping that petrol price would not be increased this month on the back of the recent assurance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation might be disappointed soon.
The PPPRA, an agency of the Federal Government, released a new pricing template earlier on Friday which showed that the petrol price is expected to increase by at least 30 per cent increase this month.
But the agency, in a statement on Friday by its Executive Secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu, said the guiding prices posted on its website were only indicative of current market trends.
It said based on the Market-based Pricing Regime for PMS Regulation 2020, which was gazetted by the Federal Government, “prices are expected to be determined by market realities in line with the dictates of market forces.”
According to the statement, one of the conditions for the implementation of the regulation is the monthly release of guiding price to reflect current market fundamentals.
It said, “The PPPRA in line with its mandate to maintain constant surveillance over all key indices relevant to pricing policy, monitors market trends on a daily basis to determine guiding prices.
“The agency is not unaware of the challenges with the supply of PMS due to some concerns leading NNPC to be the sole importer of PMS. PPPRA is also mindful of the current discussion going on between the government and the Organised Labour on the deregulation policy.”
It added, “While consultation with relevant stakeholders is ongoing, PPPRA does not fix or announce prices and therefore there is no price increase.
“The current PMS price is being maintained while consultations are being concluded. Even though market fundamentals for PMS in the past few months indicated upward price trends, the pump price has remained the same and we are currently monitoring the situation across retail outlets nationwide.”
