* Ask CBN to mitigate adverse effects of inflation
The House of Representatives has waded into the increase in the pump price of petroleum products.
The lawmakers made the demand via a moved by the Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki, and sponsored by 111 members of the House.
Through it, the House called for the immediate reversal of the price increase in petrol and cooking gas.
The lawmakers expressed concern that the hike is causing hardship for Nigerians and threatening job security.
The Green Chamber also asked that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, to increase local refining capacity, while also calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement monetary policies that will mitigate the adverse effect of fuel price hike on inflation.
This comes as the World Bank has warned that a further increase in the prices of petrol may reverse the already dwindling effects of subsidy removal in Nigeria.
The warning is contained in the October edition of its Africa’s Pulse report.
The report said: “While the inflationary effects of a weakened naira in the first months of this year and the removal of the gasoline subsidy in the second half of 2023 appeared to be gradually subsiding, a further increase in gasoline prices by 40-45 per cent in September may reverse the disinflationary trend.”
President Bola Tinubu, on May 29, 2023 officially pronounced an end to petrol subsidies in Nigeria, jerking petrol prices from N175 per litre to over N1,000 across the country.
A recent market survey also puts the price of 1 kg cooking gas at N1,500.