The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics NBS has released the Premium Motor Spirit PMS [Petrol] price watch for the month of April 2018.
The NBS report shows that average price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol increased by 1.0% year-on-year and -7.3% month-on-month to ₦151.4 in April 2018 from ₦163.4 in March 2018.
The average PMS Price across the zones in the country shows that the North- West zone recorded the highest price of ₦155.35. It was closely followed by North-west with ₦154.85 while the South-West and South-East zones recorded the lowest price of ₦145.89 and ₦149.01 respectively in the month of April.
However, during the period under review, Kebbi State has the highest average price of premium motor spirit (₦163.71) with a month-on-month increase of -7.8% and a year-on-year increase of 2,0%. The second state is Kogi where average price paid by consumers for petrol increased by 9.8% year-on-year and -1.6% month-on-month to ₦160.79 in April 2018. Jigawa State is third with an average price of ₦160.46 which increased by 10.2% year-on-year and -11.3% month-on-month.
The report also shows that Plateau State has the lowest average price of premium motor spirit (petrol) in April 2018 (₦145.00) with a month-on-month increase of -8.1% and a year-on-year increase of -1.0%. Closing following is Abuja with an average price of ₦144.95 which increased by 0.0% year-on-year and 0.0% month-on-month. The third state is Bauchi, where average price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit increased by -4.2% year-on-year and -1.0% month-on-month to ₦144.17 in April 2018.
Implication
A drop in the average price of petrol will increase the purchasing power of Nigerian consumers, no matter how little the change may be. Also, reduction in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (though very minimal) may have little positive effects on food prices, since food supply in Nigeria rely mostly on road transportation.
Transportation prices are also fairly inelastic so the slight drop in petrol prices will not translate to cheaper food items.
A slight drop in petrol prices however could lead to a small drop in operating costs for small scale businesses that rely on petrol generators, and a small increase in revenue.
