The Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, yesterday said the scarcity currently being experienced across the nation was caused by the two rounds of devaluation of the naira carried out by the CBN in November last year and last month.
Speaking when he appeared before the Senate, Ahmed said the devaluation caused huge confusion in the oil sector as the agency did not know the naira exchange rate to the United States dollar to be used for payment of marketers who imported fuel.
Marketers could not deliver the cargoes of fuel expected from them because they were not sure of the exact delivery cost, he said adding that the old template used for paying them was no longer realistic.
Ahmed said the PPPRA had to seek the advice of the CBN before it could eventually draw up a new template.
He, however, stressed that the crisis had been resolved as the Budget Office on Monday approved the payment of the outstanding bills that the marketers were being owed.
