Business
PENGASSAN confirms return of fuel subsidy
PENGASSAN confirms return of fuel subsidy
The National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, at the weekend, said the President Bola Tinubu led federal government had restored the subsidy on petrol.
He said the move was in contrast with the official government policy of breaking with the subsidy regime since May.
Osifo, who is also the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), disclosed this while featured on a live television programme
“The government has to come clean. In reality today, there is a subsidy because as of when the earlier price was determined, the price of crude in the international market was somewhere around less than $80 a barrel. But today, it has moved to about $93/94 per barrel for Brent crude. So, because it has moved, then the price (of petrol) also needed to move,” Osifo said.
President Bola Tinubu had announced the removal of fuel subsidy in his inaugural speech on 29 May.But Osifo said due to the cost of crude oil in the international market and the exchange rate, the government still pays subsidies on petrol.
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“The speculation has been there looking at the fundamentals because two basic things that contribute to the pricing today are the exchange rate and the price of the crude in the international market.
“You know, in the last few weeks, the price of crude has been going up, and inches towards $95 per barrel. Based on this, there are speculations that there may be an increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) but behind the scenes, we have been engaging the government and trying to make them understand that there is no basis for that.“Because for us, you know when they floated the exchange rate, you would recall that the exchange rate was moving at a very fast speed before some interventions came,” Osifo said.
He also said: “Today the official exchange rate is around N770 per dollar. So, what we have told them is that all international agencies, if you look at JP Morgan, Bank of America, and all, have said that our naira today is undervalued. What that means is that our naira should be exchanged somewhere around N600 to N630 for a dollar.
“And if the government can push it down to that range, then we would be buying PMS (petrol) at a little reduced rate compared to where it is today.“So, we have told the government that there is no basis for us to be buying petrol at a price higher than what we have today. But instead, it should go down. But the controlling factor is the exchange rate so if they could work on the exchange rate. Today it is somewhere around N770 to a dollar. But if the true value comes to bear around N600 to a dollar then we would even buy PMS at a cheaper rate,” he added.
PENGASSAN confirms return of fuel subsidy
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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