Reduction In Price Of Diesel Will Fight Inflation, Says Dangote

The Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has assured that the slash in diesel price to N1,200 by his refinery below the market rate of N1,650 would help curtail Nigeria’s rising inflation figure.

Dangote stated this during a homage visit to President Bola Tinubu in Lagos at commerorate the Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

He maintained that the significant reduction in the diesel price to N1,200 will have a positive effect on inflation and the cost of goods and services in the country.

According to the business mogul, there has been considerable economic progress recently, indicating that the country is on the right path.

Dangote stated that his refinery is offering diesel at N1,200, below the market rate of N1,650, and he believes this will contribute to lowering inflation in the country.

“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about N1,900.

“But right now, we’re back to almost N1,250, N1,300, which is a good reprieve. Quite a lot of commodities went up. When you go to the market, for example, something that we produce locally like flour, people will charge you more. Why? Because they’re paying very high diesel prices.

“Now, in our refinery, we started selling diesel at about N1,200 instead of N1,650 and I’m sure as we go along, things will continue to improve quite a lot.

“If you look at it now, when you are buying N1,650 or N1,700 for a litre of diesel, and that one has been cut off by almost two-thirds, you are now paying N1,200 for diesel.

“This can help to bring inflation down immediately. And I’m sure when the inflation figures are out for the next month, you’ll see that there’s quite a lot of improvement in the inflation rate,” Dangote said.

Recall that Dangote oil refinery had in first week in April began supplying the Nigerian domestic market with diesel and aviation jet fuel.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN) had told Reuters that local oil marketers set the price at 1,225 naira ($0.96) per litre for diesel after securing a bulk purchase agreement, prior to adding their mark-up.

The association’s members control about 150,000 retail stations across Nigeria, Maigandi said.

The smaller Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria said its members were seeking letters of credit to buy petroleum products from Dangote.

“Our members are discussing with banks and these talks have reached advanced stages, when we have our letters of credit, we will begin lifting products,” Femi Adewole, the association’s executive secretary said.

An executive from the company and various fuel marketing organizations told Reuters that oil marketers load diesel from the refinery, an important step in Nigeria’s drive for energy independence.

Devakumar Edwin, a group executive at Dangote, confirmed that the company has begun distributing diesel and jet fuel to the local market.