By Adedapo Adesanya

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for the next three years (2025-2027).

In passing the MTEF, the lower chamber’s committees on Finance, Petroleum Upstream, and Petroleum Downstream were tasked to investigate reports from the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Responsibility Commission (RMAFC) alleging that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s withheld N8.48 trillion as claimed subsidies for petrol.

Additionally, the investigation will address the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) report that claimed the NNPC failed to remit $2 billion (N3.6 trillion) in taxes to the federal government.

The committees were further directed to verify the total cumulative amount of unremitted revenue (under-recovery) from the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the NNPC between 2020 and 2023.

Some of the recommendations in the MTEF as adopted by the house are; that the projected oil benchmark prices are $75, $76.2 and $75.3 per barrel in 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively.

Three-year projections for domestic crude oil production are 2.06 million barrels per day, 2.10 million barrels per day and 2.35 million barrels per day for the subsequent years of 2025, 2026 and 2027.

The country’s economic growth rate forecast, measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) was put at 4.6 per cent, 4.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has said the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, being sold by the old Port Harcourt Refinery, which resumed production on Tuesday, is N75 per litre higher than that sold by the Dangote Refinery.

This was revealed by the association’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Obele, during the official reopening ceremony of the refinery, which is now operating at a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day.

Business Post reports that the lifting price of Dangote’s petrol product is N990 per litre. However, the refinery announced a N20 discount on Sunday, which is only available to marketers buying a minimum of 2 million litres of the fuel.

Mr Obele, a former chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) at the Port Harcourt Deport who initially applauded the federal government for revitalising the old refinery, expressed concern over the pricing disparity between petrol supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Dangote Refinery.

According to him, while Dangote Refinery sells petrol to marketers at N970 per litre, NNPC’s price stands at N1,045, a difference of N75 per litre.

He said the N75 price differential is a steep margin for businesses, particularly for an industry where profitability hinges on competitive pricing.

However, Mr Obele described the refinery’s restoration as a significant step in reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products.

He revealed that the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, has promised to address the issue and harmonise prices to mitigate the impact on marketers and consumers.

The reopening of the Port Harcourt Refinery I is expected to enhance local production capacity and reduce reliance on imports, a move welcomed by stakeholders across the sector.

However, concerns over pricing disparities underscore the need for continuous reforms to stabilise the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

The reopening has also sparked anticipation for the rehabilitation of other state-owned refineries including the second refinery in Port Harcourt as well as the Warri and Kaduna structures.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has said the lender’s efforts to tame inflation and pressures on the foreign exchange market will begin to yield results by the first quarter of 2025.

Mr Cardoso spoke during a press conference in Abuja to announce the outcomes of the two-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) for the sixth time by 25 basis points to 27.50 per cent.

He said the apex bank is using every possible strategy to tame inflation with a firm assurance that ongoing monetary tightening measures, which it has done six times alone this year, will have a favourable outcome.

The CBN rationalised that the 25 basis points hike is targeted at addressing rising inflation, which stood at 33.88 per cent as of October 2024.

“The central bank is resolute and committed to continuing to fight the war against inflation and there is no going back on that.

“We are going to deploy everything in our arsenal to ensure that we are able to tame it. And of course, this entails the return to orthodox monetary policies,” Cardoso stated amid agitations of rising interest rates on the economy,” the central banker said.

According to him, the Committee was unanimous in its decision to further tighten policy, though members took a decision to retain the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500/-100 basis points; Cash Reserve Ratio of Deposit Money Banks at 50 per cent and Merchant Banks at 16 per cent; as well as the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

He also said the MPC was particularly concerned that all inflationary measures also inched up on a month-on-month basis, suggesting the persistence of price pressures, with attendant adverse impacts on the income and welfare of citizens.

Despite this, Mr Cardoso’s tone was optimistic, forecasting that current measures would be able to tame prices in coming months due to lag effect.

“It is important for people to understand that there is a time lag between when you implement policies and when they have an impact. That time lag can be anything up from six to nine months to even a year. Our own perspective is that we expect to see greater results in the first quarter of 2025.”

He said in addition, that the apex bank is working very assiduously with some of the relevant agencies to ensure that structural impediments to growth are handled appropriately.

“We are ensuring that we are on top of the game and that the foreign exchange market operates at its most optimal manner to reflect the true value of the currency, and of course, we have price discovery.”