Business

Inflation Hits 16.82%, Exceeds IMF’s 2022 Projection

Published

3 years ago

May 17, 2022

The Consumer Price Index rose to 16.82 per cent in April from 15.92 per cent in March, latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics have revealed.

The NBS disclosed this in its ‘Consumer Price Index April 2022’ report on Monday.

The report read in part, “In April 2022, the consumer price index, which measures inflation increased to 16.82 per cent on a year-on-year basis.”

The International Monetary Fund had recently projected that Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index would hit 16.1 per cent in 2022.

This projection was presented in a tabular illustration in the IMF’s ‘Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa’, which was published on its website.

The latest inflation rate in April is the highest in the country since August 2021 when it was 17.01 per cent.

The rise in the inflation rate in April shows that Nigeria is not left out in the global inflation surge.

But it is also an indication that citizens are becoming poorer, especially given the weakening state of the currency.

In the World Economic Outlook report, the IMF warned about the effects of inflation, according to The Punch.

The report read in part, “In sub-Saharan Africa, food prices are also the most important channel of transmission, although in slightly different ways. Wheat is a less important part of the diet, but food, in general, is a larger share of consumption.

“Higher food prices will hurt consumers’ purchasing power, particularly among low-income households, and weigh on domestic demand. Social and political turmoil, most notably in West Africa, also weighs on the outlook.”

Recently, the World Bank said COVID-19 pandemic-induced inflation pushed about 23 million Nigerians into a food crisis in 2021, especially in regions battling conflicts.

It added that the war-driven disruptions in the food trade, higher food price inflation, and higher costs of administering food assistance efforts are likely to make more people food insecure.

Aside from the pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the World Bank in a different report had said that import restrictions and non-flexible exchange rate management of the Central Bank of Nigeria were the major driving forces for food inflation in Nigeria.

The report had read in part, “Rising food prices are the underlying factor behind the surge of headline inflation in Nigeria. Food prices have increased due to import restrictions and a nonflexible exchange rate management.

“The current regime is keeping the official exchange rate of the naira artificially strong while the naira has weakened significantly on the parallel market. Additionally, the central bank has restricted importers’ access to foreign currency for 45 products and has reduced the supply to other importers.”

This, coupled with border closures across Nigeria in recent times, also worsened inflation, analysts said.

PUNCH.

Business

Why Nigeria’s Crude Oil Production Dropped To 1.63mbpd In August – NUPRC

Published

8 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has explained that unscheduled maintenance at a refinery facility made Nigeria’s crude oil production drop on a month-on-month basis in August.

This comes as Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped to 1.63 million barrels per day month-on-month in August, down from 1.71 million bopd in July.

NUPRC disclosed this in its Crude Oil and Condensate Production for August 2025, released on Saturday.

This means a 4.7 per cent drop in combined crude oil and condensate production from 1.71 million bopd in July.

In the same vein, crude oil production itself declined by 4.8 per cent, down from 1.5 million bopd in July 2025.

“The month-on-month drop was driven by a single-day unscheduled maintenance at an oil facility.

“In the month of August, the lowest and peak combined crude and condensate production were 1.59 million bopd and 1.85 million bopd, respectively,” NUPRC said.

The data showed that while there was a decline month-on-month, the country’s crude oil production rose on a year-on-year basis by 5.5 per cent to 1.63 mbpd in August this year from 1.58 million bopd in the same period last year.

Further analysis indicates that daily condensate production in August stood at 197,229 bpd, reflecting a decline.

Also, Nigeria’s crude oil output in August achieved 96 per cent of its OPEC quota, which is set at 1.5 million bopd.

Accordingly, in the period under review, Forcados Terminal topped the production charts, delivering a total of 8.99 million barrels, including 8.08 million barrels of crude oil and 915.2k barrels of condensates.

Business

Marketers Get Dangote’s Free Fuel Supply

Published

2 days ago

September 20, 2025

Editor

Marketers on Friday confirmed that Dangote Refinery’s compressed natural gas-powered trucks have started delivering fuel to their stations at no cost to them.

The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Shettima, confirmed this to our correspondent in an interview on Friday.

Recall that Dangote Refinery rolled out over 1,000 CNG trucks on Monday, saying the entire 4,000 would be in the country before October.

The direct fuel distribution scheme was initially scheduled to commence on August 15, but was delayed due to logistics challenges in China.

A total of 4,000 CNG trucks were ordered from China for delivery in Lagos. However, the plan was stalled as there were insufficient vessels to transport the trucks.

Speaking with our correspondent, the IPMAN president said independent marketers in the South West have started receiving the trucks in their stations to offload petroleum products.

Shettima said only registered marketers can receive the free delivery from Dangote Refinery.

He said the stopping of fuel sales to unregistered marketers by the refinery is not a big deal, as marketers can register on the Dangote portal anytime they are ready.

“If you don’t register, your name will not appear on the system unless you register through the portal, which the company has been announcing for a long time. But marketers can register at any time, even at night, because it’s not difficult. You will just input all your information and register. So, that one is not an issue at all,” Shettima said.

He told our correspondent that marketers in Lagos, Ogun and Ondo have confirmed the receipt of Dangote’s logistics-free fuel.

“Dangote has started the free delivery. Already, the trucks have started moving. In most parts of the Western Zone, they have already started discharging their products, since it is closer to Lagos. So the plan is moving seriously. And my marketers are very pleased with the development.

“I can confirm to you that my members have started receiving the trucks in Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ibadan and others,” Shettima stated.

Speaking on the price, the IPMAN boss explained that prices would drop from N865 to N841 the moment petrol gets to the stations under the new arrangement.

“The prices have started coming down; even here now, when you push it to Abuja, you will see the price reduction. Wherever he discharges, all the independent marketers, anywhere he discharges, you will see there will be a price change.

“The MRS filling stations have started reducing prices, they have with independent petroleum marketers. Any marketer who applies for the product and receives it will reduce the price,” he stressed.

Business

Dangote Fuel Sells Cheaper In Togo Than In Nigeria – Falana Laments

Published

7 days ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, has lamented that fuel taken from Dangote is cheaper in Togo than in Nigeria.

Falana expressed his concerns on Sunday while responding to questions in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

He urged the federal government to review the proposed 5 per cent fuel surcharge and ensure that further hardship is not imposed on Nigerians.

“I guess the government wants to go back to the drawing table and ensure that it is not accused of multiple taxes or double taxation because consumers will pay VAT for buying fuel. They will now put an additional 5 per cent tax.

“I think this is what Nigerians are complaining about. And from what we just read today is that the Dangote fuel taken from Nigeria is now cheaper in Togo than in Nigeria I think about 65 naira.

“So, the government will have to review these developments (the proposed 5 per cent fuel surcharge) and ensure more hardship is not imposed on Nigerians,” he said.