Russia-Ukraine War: CBN Plans Engagement With NNPC, Finance Ministry To Improve Fuel Supply

The management of Central Bank of Nigeria will in the coming days meet with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to improve the supply of Premium Motor Spirit following the supply gap created by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

He said that the planned meeting which would provide the apex bank an opportunity to intervene in the energy sector had become imperative as the fuel distribution challenge is having negative impact on prices of goods and services.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis has affected the energy sector causing disruptions in the supply chain globally.

Emefiele said, “The MPC is worried about the global shortage of petroleum products. This has led to inflation. MPC is seeking ways to address this.

“Nigeria exports crude oil and imports refined petrol and this means we have to pay for imports. The committee noted the reduction in foreign reserves.

“The committee is also worried about oil theft and its effects on the economy. But we are hopeful that the coming into operations of Dangote refinery will help in ensuring fuel availability.

“The coming into operations of the entire Dangote complex will save Nigeria 30 per cent of the cost of importing the items produced in the complex.

“We were told that the Finance Ministry and NNPC are holding a meeting on the scarcity challenge. We too will be engaging the NNPC as well to see ways of making it easy for them to end fuel shortage which has led to arbitrary pricing.

“The rising price of diesel has led to poor electricity. We are working to put things under control.”