By Sulaimon Sheriff

The World Bank has said the federal government may still be paying for petrol subsidy as fuel prices in Nigeria are currently not cost-reflective.

It said Nigerians should pay about N750 per litre as against the current price of N650 in some places.
Our correspondent reports that petrol is already selling at around N690 in Kano and Sokoto, and over N700 per litre in far northeastern states of Yobe and Borno.

With current prices, many Nigerians have parked their vehicles even as costs of basic necessities of life have skyrocketed and value of income of citizens eroded by inflation.

Many observers have already condemned the World Bank’s prescription and advised the federal government to look for a home-grown solution to the prevailing economic challenges in the country.

The World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, confirmed the continuous payment of petrol subsidy by the government in Abuja yesterday during his presentation of the Nigeria Development Update (NDU), December 2023 Edition.

He said: “It does seem like petrol prices are not fully adjusting to market conditions. So, that hints at the partial return of the subsidy if we estimate what is the cost reflective of the retail PMS price of the would-be and assume that importation is done at the official FX rate.

Credit : Daily Trust newspaper