The Lagos Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (LCCI) on Thursday hailed the federal Government’s decision to
liberalise the downstream sector of the petroleum, which effectively brought
the removal of fuel subsidy form the country’s petroleum pricing template.
The Director General of the
Chamber, Muda Yusuf, said in Lagos that considering the serious transparency
issues that characterized the management of the fuel subsidy regime, it was inevitable that the decision had to be taken to create a level playing field
for all consumers.
Mr. Yusuf said over-regulation
of the downstream petroleum sector had resulted in acute constraints that the
country had been facing; pointing out that the subsidy regime had put enormous
pressure on government finances and the country’s foreign reserves.