Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), Bismark Rewane has posited that with the commencement of diesel production at the Dangote Refinery, the price of diesel per litre could fall below N1,000 from the current price of N1,500.
Rewane spoke during an interview with a television station in Lagos, where he also reviewed the recent hike in interest rates by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“Fiscal measures will complement monetary control tools and diesel prices will fall further below 1000 naira, thanks to Dangote,” he said.
He stated that if the price of diesel eventually drops, it will impact the current inflationary trend in the country.
Nigeria generally deploy the fuel in transportation of goods, transportation of other fuels like petrol, gas and kerosene and also use it to power their generators.
“Well, on the retail side, it’s N1,500. Dangote refinery has already started putting diesel in the market and people are buying that. If it stays at N1,100 and continues to go in that direction, this will help to bring down inflation significantly.
“The bakers for one, because they are funding their furnaces and their ovens with diesel, you are going to see that improve. So for cement manufacturers and bakers, this is good news,” he added.
On other matters, he said that things may now begin to look up, with the clearing of the verified $7 billion of foreign exchange commitments said to have been cleared by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
