The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the exchange rate for paying Customs duties at the nation’s seaports by 11.1 percent in response to the crash in the value of naira against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.
The CBN raised the Customs FX duty rate from N1,150.16/$ to N1,277.526/$ on Thursday, April 25, according to information obtained from the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service.
This represents an 11.1 percent rise in rate when compared to the old rate of N1,150.16/$ previously used for opening Form M, and an increase of N127.366 on a dollar needed to clear goods at the port.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had previously announced that the exchange rate indicated on the Form M application date would be used for duty collection calculations.
Collaborating with the CBN, the NCS regularly updates the exchange rate to synchronize with the official market rate on the NAFEM window, consequently leading to frequent adjustments in the rate.
The exchange rate for customs import duties collection has been steadily increasing after a Naira depreciation from a peak of N1612.28/$ earlier in March to just over 1,100 occasioned by the strengthening of the naira.
Depreciation of the Naira in the past one week, the exchange rate has been rising steadily.
On the 21st of this month, the exchange rate stood at N1,150 from N1,147 in view of marginal weakening of the naira.
The naira on Thursday depreciated to N1,309/$ at the official market and N1,420 at the parallel market.
The new rate which indicates a depreciation of 90 naira or 6.8 percent from N1,330 quoted by currency traders on Wednesday followed renewed dollar demand pressure in the foreign exchange market.
