Reduce pump price to up purchasing powers of Nigerians, Expert tell FG
…Chides NNPC on stockpiling 2b litres
Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to reduce fuel price as a complementary response to rising global oil price, saying announcement of stockpiling over two million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), to ensure a hitch-free end-of-year movement of motorists, is part of their job and should not be a news.
In a telephone interview, leading economist and public affairs analyst, Dr. Ken Igboanugo said “It pains people like us whenever a government agency does what it is supposed to do and make it a news.
“What we should be hearing from government now is how to raise the purchasing power of Nigerians.
“To me, in order to raise liquidity and recover faster from reccession, Nigerians need more money in their pockets and the best bet now oil prices are rising, is to reduce the pump price. Government should by now, be thinking of how to raise the purchasing power of Nigerians in order to make the exit from recession meaningful.
According to him, “Now the global oil price is going, it translates to lower costs of petroleum products. The best bet for Nigerian government is to reduce the pump price to put more money to the pockets of Nigerians and in the process, boost the ailing purchasing powers of Nigerians, by this simple model, the economy will reverberate because many Nigerians will have more money to use”.
“All the economy need now to stabilize is purchasing power to Nigerians and when fuel price is reduced in a fuel driven economy like Nigeria, good money is freed for Nigerians because every Nigerian is tied to fuel price. If you don’t buy fuel for your car, generator or cooking kerosene, at least you use public transport whose fare will come down on reduced fuel price. This is simple economics. There is no rocket science here. The best way to fast track real sector growth which the economy needs to consolidate exit from recession is increase in production which lower cost of diesel and other petroleum products can ignite,” Dr. Igboanugo averred.
