The cut in diesel price by the Dangote Refinery will reduce inflation, President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said yesterday.

He believes with the cost of diesel dropping to N1,200 from N1,650, the inflation rate will further drop.

In February, the headline inflation rate increased to 31.70 per cent relative to the January 2024 rate, which was 29.90 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Dangote spoke with reporters after paying an Eid-el-Fitr homage to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his Lagos home.

He said Dangote Refinery had been selling diesel at N1,200 per litre as against the market price of N1,650 – N1,700.

The industrialist was optimistic about the prospects of the pricing for the economy.

He noted the improvement in the naira to dollar exchange rate, which he said, is already having a positive impact, with the price of locally-produced goods such as flour dropping as businesses pay less for diesel.

He expects this dramatic reduction in fuel costs to help drive down inflation in the coming months.

Dangote said: “I believe that we are on the right track.

“I believe Nigerians have been patient and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through.

“There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the Naira devaluation that had gone very aggressively up to about N1,900.

“But right now, we’re back to almost N1,250 and N1,300, which is a good reprieve.

“You can see quite a lot of things went up. For example, something that we produce locally like flour – people charged more. Why? Because they were paying very high diesel prices.

“What we did, for example, in our refinery, is to sell diesel at about N1,200 as against N1,650 and I’m sure as we go along, things will continue to improve quite a lot.

“It’s a lot of impact. The price for a litre of diesel has been cut by almost one-third to N1,200.

“Even though the crude prices are going up, I believe people will not get it much higher than what it is today at N1,200.

“It might go a little bit lower, but that can help quite a lot because if you were transporting locally-produced goods, such as rice and other stuff at N1,650, and now you are paying one-third of that amount at N1,200, it’s a lot of difference.

That can help to bring inflation down. And I’m sure when the inflation figures are out for the next month, there’ll be quite a lot of improvement in the rate.

“So, one step at a time. And I’m sure the government is working round the clock to make sure that things get much better. It’s in the interest of everybody.”

Dangote urged captains of industry to partner with the government to improve lives.

“You can’t clap with one hand,” he said. “So the entrepreneurs and the government need to clap together.”

Also yesterday, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun said Nigeria was on the path of recovery from its economic challenges.

The governor attributed the recovery to the policies and programmes initiated by the Tinubu Administration.

“They (the initiatives) are yielding fruits as the economy is gradually taking shape,” Abiodun said while hosting the Muslim faithful at his Iperu country home in Ikenne Local Government Area.

According to him, the prevailing challenges are surmountable once all hands are on deck.

“Naira continues to appreciate against the dollar. We will soon start to enjoy it.

“The development of Nigeria is now paramount. It is a must. Nigeria is going to rise again,” the governor said

END.