Business & Fin I
Oil subsidy funds will run out by Dec UDEUE AKPAN Wl1>i JG<HCI AfPOOT
he funds set aside for pay. ments of fuel subsidy in the 2012 budget will run out before the end of the year. the Central Bank Governor, ML Sanust Lam1do Sanusl has warned. JreUIOS quoted the CON gov· ernor as stating at the Africa Investment Summit that: "With aU prices where they've been since the beginning of the year, I'm sure that we will be exposed to that amount long before the year runs out." He said: "If I was asked for advice I'd simply say pay what
T
you have in the budget andThey slm· ply stOP paying. ( If not) take the money from the excess crude account (or) you've got to borrow money:" Determined to eosun! avail· abUity 0( supplies. the Federa] Government engaged the ser· vices of 42 marketers to import 4.8 billion Utres of petrol for domestic consumption in the second quarter (April.June) of this year. The impon. authorized by the Petroleum Products Prlclng Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Is the flrst since mass protest oom· peUed the governnumt to back· pedal Its decision to remove fuel subsidy In Jan~ While some firms alleged to have performed badly in the past
have been dropped, a closer look revealed that the List is domInated by some reputable importers, lndudlng Mobn, Qando. NIPCo and the Nigerian National Petroleum CorporaUon (NNPC) domi· nate the list of importers. The PPPRA that made this known in a statement is said to be bent OIl ensuring that the nation does not witness fuel shortage in the nearest furure. It confirmed that the government would continue to subsidise the price of petrol so as to enable motortsu and others gellhe pnxIuct al the official N97 per a lJtre. The government was forced to retain the subsidy following mass protest that greeted at·
tempt to remove the subsidy in January; this )'eat: The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee which probed the management of fuel subsidy in the nation uncovered !Orne jr. regularlties while enoouraging the government to embark on imponation to enable it meets domestic demand The House of Representatives probing the management of fuel subsidy in the nation alms at ascertaining whether traudulenl practlces by government agencies fuelled a fivefold rise in spending on fuel subsidies in the past three years. The chairman of the Adhoc Committee, Senator Farouk
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Lawan who confirmed the intension said government probably paid more than N2LTillJon ($l2.6 billlon) to fue1lmporters to cover the difference between market costs and state-regulated priCes for last year. He saId that is up from N384 bUllon naira in 2009 and represents almost half of last year's NU trtlllon budgeL The Lawan·led Committee bas recommended thai the NNPC, oU marketers and PPPRA. should refund NI.071rn to the FEderation Account The report also lnd.lcated that other oompanies involved in the unmerited filnd should refund part of the money:
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L.R: Uan.glng DtrKtOl", GUllJUty Truat Ibnk PIc.., Ur. Segun AgbaJ.; EJteevUv. DIrector, Un. OIut~. Omoto4a, and C1\a1rman, "r. OIuwoI. Oduy.ml .t the bank', 22nd Annual Gener.1 ....tlng h.1d y••lelrd.y In L.eogo • •
World Bank to support Nigeria's agric sector with $900m Tou AK&NMUTIMI A8UJA
~orld ted
Bank has tntfnSt to support the natioo's agrkultural sector
with
am mlllloo 10 aM!!"
agrirulture
and Inigatlan
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01-8446073, 0809433ll71. 08023133084, 08034019884
......,
08033020395, 08036321D1.4
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The bank's 1lnanda1 oonuniunent Is also com-
ingOO theheeIsof the Unit· cd States Agency for inler-
_ CocoaFOOndatlm natlooal """""""'" the _ _ Instltute and the lntenatlmal Food
and_'_
readiness to provide technical and institutional sup. ports fer the government's
effirts to boost agriculrural productMt)' and tra.ns-form the sector into the priuuuy foreign ......... earner for the oountry
O_these_
opments at a media brii!f". ing )'eSU!l'day on the majar _ < : I : the just aD:Iuded Nigerian Agrlculturnl Fonun held in the United St3tes, the Mln1stet d
-,
FG says no going back on power sector reforms
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AgriClll.tW'l! and Rural. I)e. Yelopment. Or: Akinwwnl
agmcles at the forum. including _ with
Adeslna, described the
the senJor _
event as a huge sua::ess for the cowury in tI!rms of !he other _ _ potentia1 InvesIments and
World Bank, and leaders d other institutions bldJ.. cated. that tbegloballnvest·
fir the oountry's ecolOmX
erdted about the new tocus of Nigeria's eooncmk:
<:I: the
menip~v.wenDlonly
partlcularly the ..,.,.,..-
-
... secur. 'Mle tn1n1ster said discusskms with leaders d
Institutlons
and
_'_but
oJso rea<lY to partner with the government to grow the """""'>
Political will nee,ded to implement terms for exports FoB
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