Page 11 - AfrOil Week 41 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Turkey has supported the GNU under Dbei- a total of $16bn.
bah, whose legitimacy is disputed by the Lib- Since the Arab Spring in 2011, which led
yan Parliament. The latter backs an alternative to the ouster of long-time dictator Moammar
administration. Qaddafi, Libya has been plunged into chaos and
Libya and Turkey have strengthened their ties split between rival governments – one in the
in the past few months. Both countries signed east, backed by military commander Khalifa
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army
August 2020 to finalize 184 stalled Turkish con- (LNA), and another, the UN-supported GNU in
struction projects in Libya estimated to be worth the capital Tripoli in the west. ™

Tunisia’s gasoline crisis deepens

TUNISIA TUNISIA’S gasoline supply crisis is ongoing for the scarcity of fuel is the rush of people […]
amid shortages of some subsidised goods, deep- many Tunisians are taking more than they
ening the country’s economic crisis. need,” said Energy Minister Naila Nouira.
A senior official in the Tunisian labour union Another tanker will also arrive at the port of
(UGTT) said on October 11 that Tunisia’s gas- Bizerte by the end of this week, which ensures
oline supply will only last a week. However, market supply for another two weeks.
Energy Minister Naila Nouira refuted the state- Tunisia is still having discussions with the
ment, saying that a new tanker was unloading in International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue
the city of Bizerte. loan that could unlock bilateral budget support,
The new tanker is supposed to give Tuni- which is to be finalised this month. ™
sia an extra 10-15 days of supply, said Salouan
Smiri, a senior official in the oil section of the
UGTT. He added: “[The] shortage of fuel sup-
ply may resume if the state does not find enough
liquidity to pay for upcoming loads.”
Smiri cited a low stock of fuel and an increase
in international prices to explain the shortages.
The government blamed these shortages of
goods on internal speculators and consumer
behaviour, while denying any claims of an ina-
bility to pay importers for subsidised goods.
The Energy Minister emphasised that the
government can pay for its fuel imports, but
there are more stringent conditions, as suppli-
ers require the payment of previous shipments
before unloading any new ones. “The reason High world prices have contributed to Tunisia’s domestic fuel shortages (File Photo)

Nigerian Senators reject President’s

proposal on scrapping of fuel subsidy

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S budget deficit has risen to such a argued that with the budget deficit set to widen
level that the controversial fuel subsidy policy is to 4.78% in 2023, it is impossible to continue
unsustainable, President Muhammadu Buhari with the popular subsidy, projected to cost
has argued, calling for it to be scrapped. $9.6bn this year, according to Reuters.
Senators across political party lines, how- The subsidy aims to keep fuel prices low
ever, have said the National Assembly would enough that the average Nigerian isn’t priced
not pass a proposal on removing the subsidy as out of driving a vehicle. But many observers,
presented by Buhari so as not to create a crisis for including experts from the World Bank and
the administration that succeeds him next year, other international financial institutions (IFIs),
This Day reports. say the policy is having a serious negative impact
In a speech on Friday, October 7, Buhari on the economy.

Week 41 13•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11