The rise in Nigeria’s inflation rate for the month of August to 13.22 percent and the take-off of Dangote Refinery next year are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
ThisDay reports that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 13.22 percent (year-on-year) in August compared to 12.82 percent in the preceding month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated Tuesday.
The 0.40 percent points increase was attributed to increases in all the parameters that determine the headline index.
According to the CPI figures for August, which was released by the statistical agency on a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 1.34 percent in the review period, representing 0.09 percent rise compared to 1.25 percent in July.
The NBS stated that the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending August over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 12.23 percent, representing a 0.18 percent point rise from 12.05 percent recorded in July.
The Nation says that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has said that when Dangote Refinery kicks off next year, it may not significantly reduce the price of petrol because the refinery will be selling at the international price.
Mrs. Ahmed said this is because the refinery is located at the Export Processing Zone in Lagos State. The minister spoke on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme on Monday, adding that the only thing Nigeria would not need to pay is shipping cost.
“What we are doing is enabling the petroleum sector to actually grow. There have been a number of refineries that have been licensed for several years. None of them was willing to start refining under the regime that we had were fuel was controlled.
“The Dangote refinery is sitting within an Export Processing Zone so they are insulated from that. When we buy fuel from Dangote, we will be buying fuel at the international market price. The only savings that we will be making is the savings of freight which is shipping. “But we will still have landing cost; labour cost and the marketers will still have to put a margin.
The Nation says that the Federal Government will next month commence the conversion of cars and generating plants for gas fuelling.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, spoke on NTA’s “Good Morning Nigeria” which our Abuja correspondent monitored on Monday.
Shortly after his assumption of office, he had vowed to provide alternative fuel that would be cheaper and affordable for the common man.
He had early this year pledged to provide the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) that will sell for about N97 per litre as alternative to the petrol. According to him, the Federal Government will convert the vehicles free of charge as a measure to lessen the impact of the hike of petrol pump price on the populace.
Sylva insisted that vehicles can be fueled by petrol and gas with the necessary calibration. He predicated the government’s decision for alternative as a measure to embrace clean energy to crash the demand for petrol. His words: “The alternative we are now introducing is gas, which is definitely going to be cheaper than the subsidised rate of PMS. So, what we are trying to encourage Nigerians to do now is to convert their cars to dual fuel.
The Punch reports that all airports in Nigeria are now open for domestic flight operations, the Federal Government announced on Monday.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who announced this in Abuja at Monday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, however, noted that operators flying into private- owned airports must know the status of such airports.
In July, the Nigerian Government opened 14 airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, after shutting the facilities for several months in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Sirika had stated that other airports would be opened as soon as they met the safety protocols required to curb the spread of the virus. Speaking at the PTF briefing on Monday, the minister said approvals for flights within the country would not be needed from the ministry again, as all airports had been opened for domestic operations.
The Sun reports that contrary to claims by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, that prices of food items are on the decline, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs, Zainab Ahmed, on Monday admitted that food prices are indeed on the increase.
In her own assessment of the cost of living in the country, Ahmed, who spoke on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme, noted that unlike in previous administrations where subsidy was done on consumption, it would be better if it is targeted at certain sectors of the productive economy.
She said: “It is true that food prices are going up and, as I said earlier on, sensible subsidy is the one that is done on production, not on consumption because when you use gasoline in your car, you burn it and you have to put it in your car again and burn it.
“But if you now change the regime and say any truck that carries food or produce, the diesel price is subsidised, you are subsidising production because it means food items get to the market cheaper.
GIK/APA