The price per litre of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly known as diesel, has jumped to N280, occasioned by the recent hike in global oil prices and naira devaluation. The price of diesel on Monday ranged from N270 to N280 per litre in several filling stations in Lagos. Reports say the price of the product which is not under government regulation was sold for N280, N279.9 and N275 per litre at Mobil, Capital Oil and Gas as well as Oando filling stations, all along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Diesel often readily serve businesses to power their generators amid a lack of reliable power supply from the national grid. “The high diesel cost is taking a huge toll on operating and production costs across sectors. It is a case of multiple jeopardy for businesses,” the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, told Punch on Monday. He noted that purchasing power had been weak and the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar had depreciated sharply. Last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria devalued the naira as it adopted the NAFEX exchange rate of N410.25 per dollar as its official exchange rate, days after removing the N379/$ rate from its website. The naira fell to 502/$1 on Monday at the parallel market from 500/$1 on Friday.
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Source: Punch