The Federal Government has quietly approved N185 per litre as the new price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, according to reports.
It was gathered that the directive was issued in a memo addressed to major marketers across the country, early Thursday.
A source who spoke with the members of the press said fuel stations across the country will start adjusting their price to the approved N185 per litre.
The New Diplomat reports that the newly approved price comes weeks since the nationwide petrol scarcity started, leading to long queues in fuel stations since late November 2022.
Though the official pump price was ₦165 per litre many petrol stations nationwide have been selling above N200 per litre, something many economic analysts had projected could double the price with the plans already put in place to remove fuel subsidy before mid-year.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed had on Tuesday hinted that the Federal Government may begin gradual removal of the petrol subsidy from April 2023, about three months ahead of the initial plan to effect a complete stop to the expenditure head.
The Finance Minister dropped the hint during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She said the subsidy removal appears to be the position of all contestants to the leadership of the country in their political campaigns for next month’s general elections.
She stated: “What will be safer is for the current administration to, maybe at the beginning of the second quarter, start removing the fuel subsidy, because it’s more expedient if you remove it gradually than to wait and move it all in one big swoop”.
