The $1 billion debt hanging on Nigeria’s downstream sector operators has dipped the credit rating of oil marketers with banks. The fuel importers, it was gathered, have renewed pressure on the Federal Government, which has held back over N650 billion as subsidy payment and taxes of the debts they incurred from banks.
Banks have since foreclosed further lending to importers and marketers of petroleum products in Nigeria, it was gathered at the weekend, as over $2.2 trillion loans to the downstream sector worsened the liquidity problem rocking the lenders. Over $1 billion out of the total loan was extended to the marketers alone, while the total facility is poorly serviced, surging interests to N160 billion and heightening fear of hiccups in petroleum products’ supply.
Marketers comprising Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), confirmed that the banks had started tailing them over the loan, maintaining that operations of the financial institutions and the country’s financial system were under threat due to the loans.
Source: New Telegraph