Kachikwu: Price of refined product will sell for N85 by January

The federal government is working to reduce the petroleum pump price from N87 to N85 per liter by January 1st 2016, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum , Dr Ibe Kachikwu during a tour of the Port Harcourt refinery on Friday December 25.

He said, ''If you look at the new PPPRA template that we developed and which I just signed off two days ago, when it is announced you will find out that for now, and I use the emphatic word of the President for now, the price of the refined product will actually be lower than 87 naira, It will be 85. We will probably announce that in January if the prices hold. Like I said, we have done a modulation calculation and it is showing us below N87. I imagine that if PPPRA publishes it today, it will become effective immediately. But the 1st of January that is when we are looking at. What that does for you is that its modulating. If it goes up you move up, if it comes down you come down. So we take away the fact of having to go find funds to pay for these subsidies that we cannot afford. More importantly we try to be as close to the pump price that we have now as possible.''