The Federal Government on Thursday said
the decision to fix the maximum price of petrol at N145 per litre
despite the liberalisation of the product’s importation was meant to
protect Nigerians.
The Minister of Budget and National
Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, said this while fielding questions from
State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He was asked why the government would
still put a peg on the price when he had already thrown the market
opened for individuals or corporate bodies to source for forex and
import the product.
But Udoma explained that the decision
was taken to protect Nigerians from private operators who might want to
be charging roof top prices.
He said the measure was to be in place until the market stabilises.
He expressed the conviction that once
the market stabilises, the price of petrol would be lower than the
current N145 per litre peg.
He said, “The price ceiling is a short time measure to protect Nigerians before the market stabilises.
“This is because it is possible for private operators to take price to any level.
“We however expect it to stabilise, and once that is achieved, the price will still be lower than that N145.”
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