The exchange rate for calculating import duty at the nation’s seaports has strengthened to N1,150 better than the official exchange rate of the naira to the dollar, in a boost to importers.
This followed a further slash of the exchange rate for paying Customs duties at the port by about 7.1 percent to N1,150.16/$, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Read also: Customs FX duty rate drops by a 5.2% on strong naira
Information obtained from the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service revealed that the apex bank slashed the Customs FX duty rate from N1,238.179/$ to N1,150.16 on Tuesday, April 23.
This equals a 7.1 percent reduction in rate compared to the old rate of N1,238.179/$ used for the opening of Form M last week, and a decrease of N88.019 on the dollar needed to clear goods at the port.
The latest slash comes as the naira traded for N1,234.49/$ at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on April 22.
BusinessDay reports that the dollar is also appreciating in the FX market as one dollar was sold for N1,250/$ on the streets on Tuesday morning, up from N1,270/$ on Monday.
The appreciation of the naira was attributed to the apex bank’s sale of $10,000 to the Bureau de Change at a rate of N1,021/$ on Monday.
With the slash in exchange rate, importers who opened Form M on Tuesday had some measures of relief in terms of the money required to pay import duties compared to the importers who opened Form M last week.
Read also: CBN raises Customs FX duty rate for cargo clearing by 2.1%
This is in line with the apex bank’s new directive that Customs should be using the rate on the date of submitting Form M for calculating import duties.
Reacting to the new rate, Onome Joy, a licensed Customs agent, said the official exchange rate was now floating to a stable rate.
According to her, freight forwarders and importers were hopeful that the rate would plunge further in the coming weeks.
