Oil marketers are reiterating their call for a potential increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, due to the ongoing depreciation of the Nigerian naira against the US dollar.
The black market exchange rate for the naira reached 920/dollar, prompting concerns about the sustainability of the current petrol price. With this exchange rate, fuel dealers and marketers projected a potential price of N680/litre to N700/litre for petrol, as the cost of production becomes more expensive due to the higher exchange rate.
The government has maintained that there will be no increase in petrol prices, but oil marketers believe that if this stance continues, the government must be secretly subsidizing the commodity based on prevailing exchange rates. This potential increase in fuel price could also lead to increased fuel subsidies by the government, creating additional financial strain.