Market News

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.

Apex Bank 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.

This means that importers opening Form M today will require more money to pay import duties compared to the importers who opened Form M earlier in the week.

BusinessDay reports that the naira on Thursday fell to N1,400 against the dollar on the black market, following renewed demand pressure in the foreign exchange market.

With the current exchange rate, the naira has lost 19.64 percent in two weeks when compared to N1,125 per dollar quoted on April 12, 2023, on the parallel market, popularly called the black market.

At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, the naira depreciated to N1,308.52 per dollar on Wednesday.

Reacting to the rapid fluctuation of the exchange rate, Eugene Nweke, a freight forwarder, said the high import value and clearing cost in Nigerian ports is exacerbating inflation.

According to him, the foreign exchange rate is affecting the volume and cost of doing business at the port.

Urging Customs to sustain a fixed exchange rate regime to help create a stable value of products, he called on the government to tailor monetary policies in a manner that doesn’t suffocate the industry.