The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) says that with Dangote Refinery and others coming on board, Nigerians should expect a crash in the price of premium motor spirit, better known as petrol.
The product was sold for less than ₦200 per litre before the removal; it currently sells for around ₦930 per litre, depending on the area.
However, the Director-General of NIPSS, Ayo Omotayo, while the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration has led to a hike in the cost of the essential item, better days are ahead for the country.
“With the removal of the first subsidy, we have Dangote Refinery coming on. We have the other refineries. The refinery in Port Harcourt has worked continuously for 110 days if I’ve counted right! These are the short-term gains,” Omotayo said on Tuesday.
“We are buying fuel a little bit more expensive, but as we predict at the National Institute that if we continue with what we are currently doing, fuel by itself will come down. We’re looking at it coming down as low as ₦750 before the end of the year. And of course, foreign exchange, we believe, will still drop to about 1.3 before the end of the year, and it is going to continue like that as more of our refineries come into place. We will become a net exporter in the long run.
