The World Bank has warned that a further increase in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol may reverse the already dwindling effects of subsidy removal in Nigeria.

The warning is contained in the October edition of its Africa’s Pulse report.

President Bola Tinubu as of May 2023, officially pronounced an end to petrol subsidies in Nigeria, jerking PMS prices from N175 per litre to over N1000 across the country.

The report said; “While the inflationary effects of a weakened naira in the first months of this year and the removal of the gasoline subsidy in the second half of 2023 appeared to be gradually subsiding, a further increase in gasoline prices by 40-45 per cent in September may reverse the disinflationary trend.

It said economic growth in Nigeria is projected at 3.3 per cent in 2024 and 3.6 per cent in 2025–26 as macroeconomic and fiscal reforms gradually start yielding results.