Middle East war: FG won’t control petrol prices – Wale Edun

Edun

The federal government says it will not intervene to regulate petrol prices as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to create volatility in global oil markets.

In an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, Wale Edun, the minister of finance, said the federal government plans to introduce other initiatives to cushion the impact of the geopolitical tensions instead.

He said the government would pursue similar initiatives “rather than interfering with an orderly market pricing”.

“When there is market failure is where the regulator steps in. But in terms of balancing pricing, what we are looking to do is to manage the disruption and we don’t know how permanent or temporary it could be,” Edun said.

“But in the meantime, rather than reverting back and taking backward steps, we’ll look at every other measure that we have that can help the cost of living of Nigerians.”

The Middle East conflict has triggered significant volatility in global markets as crude oil prices crossed a $100 per barrel on March 9 — the highest level since July 2022 — before easing to $87 the following day.

On March 11, the finance ministry said the war in the Middle East may affect Nigeria’s crude oil and gas prices, capital flows, financial markets, as well as global logistics and supply costs. Thecable