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Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has said that one of the benefits of the new petrol price regime is that it would create up to 200,000 jobs.
He said this on Friday at at the inauguration of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) Marketers Conference in Lagos.
He said the new price regime will create labour market stability, which will potentially create additional 200,000 jobs through new investments in refineries and retails and prevents potential loss of 400,000 jobs in existing investments.
Listing other benefits of the new price regime, he said it would end the recurrent fuel scarcity by ensuring product availability across the country, reduce hoarding, smuggling and diversion of products substantially and improve fuel supply situation through private sector participation.
Speaking further, he said:
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you that that decision is inevitable, if we are to end the crippling fuel scarcity that has enveloped the country, ensure the availability of the products and end the suffering that our people have been subjected to”
He said the crash in the price of crude oil, which has impacted negatively on foreign exchange earnings, has further compounded the crisis in fuel supply.
“With the drastic fall in the price of crude oil, which is the nation’s main foreign exchange earner, there has also been a drastic reduction in the amount of foreign exchange available. The unavailability offorex and the inability to open letters of credit haveforced marketers to stop product importation and imposed over 90% supply on the NNPC since October 2015, in contrast to the past where NNPC supplies 48% of the national requirement”
Alhaji Mohammed gave the assurance that underthe new price regime, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) will be further empowered to ensure a level playing fieldand strict compliance with market rules by all stakeholders and consumer protection.