Border Closure: Prices of petrol, kerosene, diesel skyrocket – NBS data
Despite Federal Government’s partial closure of borders to monitor smuggling, prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel skyrocketed in August.
Data sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that while prices of energy jumped up in August, prices of food items slumped in the month despite the revelation that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would henceforth restrict Foreign Exchange (Forex) access for food imports.
According to Daily Trust analysis, it’s shows that average price per litre paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 1.24 per cent month-on-month and by 10.80 per cent year-on-year to N319.94 in August, 2019, from N316.03 in July, 2019.
States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene were Abia (N375.55), Enugu (N365.47) and Ebonyi (N358.33), while states with the lowest average price per litre of kerosene were Abuja (N245.50), Kwara (N261.11) and Benue (N261.90).
Similarly, average price per gallon paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 0.19 per cent month-on-month and by 11.92 per cent year-on-year to N1,213 in August, 2019, from N1,211 in July, 2019.
States with the highest average price per gallon of kerosene were Gombe (N1,400), Adamawa (N1,360) and Borno (N1,355), while states with the lowest average price per gallon of kerosene were Bayelsa (N1,030), Akwa Ibom (N1,079.58) and Osun (N1,085). Similarly, the average price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, decreased by -1.0 per cent year-on-year and increased by 0.3 per cent month-on-month to N145.5 in August, 2019, from N145.0 in July, 2019.
States with the lowest average price of PMS were Katsina (N142.50), Zamfara (N144.33) and Kaduna (N144.68), while states with the highest average price of PMS were Bayelsa (N146.78), Cross River (N146.76) and Kogi (N146.75).
Meanwhile, average price paid by consumers for Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel, increased by 1.83 per cent month-on-month and 10.14 per cent year-on-year to N229.08 in August, 2019, from to N224.96 in July, 2019.
States with the highest average price of diesel were Borno (N271), Niger (N257.14) and Taraba (N250.75), while states with the lowest average price of diesel were Yobe (N205), Ekiti (N206) and Bayelsa (N209.64).
However, average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), simply known as cooking gas, decreased by -1.21 per cent month-on-month and by -2.62 per cent year-on-year to N2,000 in August, 2019, from N2,024.80 in July, 2019.
States with the highest average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder of LPG were Adamawa (N2,488.75), Bauchi (N2,468.89) and Borno (N2,391.07), while states with the lowest average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder of LPG were Osun (N1,694.44), Enugu (N1,718.05) and Abuja (N1,739.17).
Similarly, average price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of LPG increased by 0.09 per cent month-on-month and decreased by -3.35 per cent year-on-year to N4,220.11 in August, 2019, from N4,216.29 in July, 2019.
Note that food inflation dropped to 13.17 per cent in August from the 13.68 per cent recorded in July; this slump happened despite several pronouncements regarding restrictions on the import of some food items, minimum wage and the recent border closure.
NBS explained that border closure could not cause inflation in August as “the border was only closed August 20, 2019, with only 11 days of 31 days for any significant impact to be felt either way on prices.”
This may not be unconnected to why the partial closure could not also crash prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel in August.
NBS said the harvest season and existing weak consumer demand and their natural effect to slow down food and other prices played a major role in determining the direction prices of food within the period.