Economy
According to Dangote, a declining diesel pump price will lower inflation
Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, stated in Lagos on Wednesday that Nigerians could anticipate lower inflation as a result of the two-thirds fall in fuel pump prices.
After honoring President Bola Tinubu on Eid-el-Fitr at his home, Dangote told reporters, “In our refinery, we started selling diesel at about ₦1,200 from ₦1,650 and I’m sure as we go along…this can help to bring inflation down immediately.”
The businessman claimed that instead of charging between ₦1,650 and ₦1,700 per litre, his petroleum refinery was now selling diesel for ₦1,200.
In light of the naira’s recent improvements in the foreign exchange market—it went from ₦1,900/$ to ₦1,250–₦1,300—he expressed optimism that Nigeria’s economy would strengthen.
Dangote said this rise in value has sparked a gradual drop in the price of locally-produced goods such as flour, as businesses are paying less for diesel. Therefore, the reduced fuel costs would drive down inflation in the coming months, he asserted.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1,900.
[i]“But right now, we’re back to almost ₦1,250, ₦1,300, which is a good reprieve. Quite a lot of commodities went up. When you go to the market, for example, something that we produce locally like flour, people will charge you more. Why? Because they’re paying very high diesel prices.
“Now, in our refinery, we started selling diesel at about ₦1,200 instead of ₦1,650 and I’m sure as we go along, things will continue to improve quite a lot,” Dangote stated.
He argued that the reduced diesel price has had “a lot of impact.”
Dangote explained, “If you look at it now, when you are buying ₦1,650 or ₦1,700 for a litre of diesel, and that one has been cut off by almost two-thirds, you are now paying ₦1,200 for diesel.
“Maybe, going forward, even though the crude prices are going up, I believe people will not get it much higher than what it is today, ₦1,200. It might be even a little bit lower, but that can help quite a lot because if you are transporting locally-produced goods and you were paying ₦1,650, now you are paying two-thirds of that amount, ₦1,200. It’s a lot of difference. People don’t know.
“This can help to bring inflation down immediately. And I’m sure when the inflation figures are out for the next month, you’ll see that there’s quite a lot of improvement in the inflation rate. So step at a time. And I’m sure the government is working around the clock to make sure that things get much better.”
He said reduced inflation is in the best interest of the government and Nigerians.
Therefore, he urged captains of industry to partner with the government to improve the lives of the citizens.
“You can’t clap with one hand,” he said, adding, “So, both the entrepreneurs and the government, they need to clap together and make sure that it is in the best interest of everybody.”
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