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Banks in Nigeria are to make as estimated loan amount of N3.5trn available for importation of Premium motor spirit, known as petrol to marketers
It has been revealed that Banks are now receiving more loan requests for fuel importation following the crisis in the sector of which Dangote refinery and petroleum marketers are at the front.
A senior bank executive stated: “We have started seeing a lot of petroleum marketers coming up with loan requests for importation of products, which we didn’t have before now not even when the President declared that subsidy is gone.
“We have also done our due diligence on the market and discovered that deregulation is gaining traction across the private and public sectors.
“Before now we do not entertain lending to petrol marketers due to issues around pump price regulations because many banks had burnt their fingers in the recent years over oil and gas related loans that failed.
Petrol costlier than actual market price, NLC alleges
Meanwhile the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has alleged that the pump price of petrol is higher than market price, accusing marketers of ripping off Nigerians.
NLC in a communiqué at the of its National Executive Council, NEC, in Port Harcourt Rivers State, by its President, Joe Ajaero, noted with “increasing dismay the shenanigans around the appropriate pricing of petrol, (Premium Motor Spirit, PMS) in Nigeria.”
NLC observed that there may be a gang up against Nigerians by fat cats in the industry as the current price of the product is significantly higher than the real market price. Padding of costs and abnormal margins seems to be the order of the day considering the revelations from the ongoing controversy between Marketers and the Dangote group. It is entirely possible that Nigerian workers and masses are being ripped off by those who control the levers of Economic power in Nigeria which explains why the domestic public refineries may not immediately be allowed to come on stream.
“NLC demands appropriate pricing of petrol and calls for the Public domestic refineries in PH, Warri and Kaduna to quickly come back on stream to break-up the monopolistic stranglehold the big players have on the industry.”
Credit: Vanguard, Agency Reports
