The continued fall in price for crude oil may force the Federal Government to make another cut of fuel prices, according to the former Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Produces Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Farouk Ahmed.
Mr. Ahmed is the outgoing head of the PPRA which is responsible for regulating and setting prices for petroleum products in the country. He made his remarks during his handover ceremony in Abuja on Thursday.
He noted during his remarks that as of February 3rd, 2016, the country had saved N2.6 billion because of the price fluctuations, according to a report by the Punch Newspaper.
Mr. Ahmed stated that the over-recovery of money usually means that the PPPRA sends notes to affected markers notifying them to refund the excess money to the government. The refunds are held in an account at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He stated that “there has been an account launched at the CBN and being managed by the Accountant-General of the Federation where the over-recovery of funds are deposited. So, there is no question of where the money goes to.”
He added that the over-recovery by the government may disappear if the price of oil increases next month and that a review of the existing pricing templates would commence on March 15th, 2016.
The over-recovery was caused by modifications to the pricing template and a price modulation mechanism, which brought about efficiency and cost saving, according to the Punch.