The price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly called petrol has risen by 81 per cent in the past three years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics reports analyzed by our correspondent.
This came as findings showed that the Federal Government has paid about N5.83tn subsidy on petroleum products. NBS data showed that between February 2020 and February 2023, the price of fuel rose from N145.41/litre to N263.76/litre.
The NBS report stated that the average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit in February 2023 was N263.76, indicating a 54.76 per cent increase when compared to the value recorded in February 2022 (N170.42).
Likewise, comparing the average price with the previous month (January 2023), the average retail price increased by 2.58 per cent from N257.12. At the onset of 2020, the average price paid by consumers for petrol increased by 0.08 per cent year-on-year and month-on-month by 0.03 per cent to N145.41 in February 2020 from N145.37 in January 2020, according to the NBS. At the time, the Federal Government had paid about N134bn as fuel subsidy payment.
