Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has stated that the country is unable to meet its production quota due to unwarranted oil theft in the sector.
Emefiele revealed this on Monday at the end of the 284th monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.
After MPC meeting, , the committee concluded to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), otherwise known as the interest rate, at 11.5 percent with the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR.
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The apex bank governor, said one of the factors responsible for the issue of fuel scarcity in the country apart from the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war is a high trend of oil theft.
He added that the global prices have gone up and are compounded by the shortage of supply of petroleum products.
“Apart from the Russia-Ukraine war, crude prices have increased due to supply shortage and of course, for Nigeria, we have not been able to meet the export quota primarily because of unwarranted oil theft that we see in our environment today. This has resulted in the increase in the price of diesel and petrol,” Emefiele said.
“Also, because of the war, there’s been a rising price not just in crude oil but also in food. The increase is so astronomical that it is not just affecting Nigeria but the world.”
Emefiele further spoke on MPC’s concern on the unprecedented oil theft as well as the hike in the price of diesel, adding that it has a huge impact on the economy.
He consequently urged the management of the sector to take quick action.
