VenturesNow

Nigeria’s NNPC insists no plans to raise petrol prices

Published

10 months ago

February 9, 2024

Nigeria’s state-owned oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), announced on Thursday that it had no intention of increasing petrol prices.

This comes amid speculation that it could increase prices to recover some of its import costs given the devaluation of the Naira and the cost of purchasing and importing refined petrol.

The NNPC, which is the sole importer of petrol because local private firms are unable to obtain sufficient foreign currency, urged Nigerians to disregard the speculation about price increases, adding that “there are no plans for an upward review of the (petrol) price.”

Since President Bola Tinubu ended the expensive fuel subsidy and loosened limits on currency trading in July of last year, which caused petrol prices to more than quadruple, Nigerians have been feeling the impact.

The measures exacerbated the cost of living crisis by driving inflation to a nearly three-decade high in December, contrary to the president’s hopes that this would jump-start the economy’s flagging growth.

Unions have put pressure on Tinubu to provide assistance to small firms and households after he removed the subsidy that kept petrol prices low but came at a $10 billion cost to the government in 2022.

The president has insisted he is aware of the difficulties brought about by the removal of the subsidy and was keeping an eye on how inflation and the exchange rate were affecting the price of petrol. He also promised to step in if and when needed.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s major unions expressed disappointment over the government’s inability to keep promises made to mitigate the effects of reforms and issued a two-week ultimatum to the government to comply with requests ranging from increased wages to better access to public utilities.

VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

VenturesNow

Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

3 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.