Customs FX rate now N1,474/$ — up by 23% in one day

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has adjusted the foreign exchange (FX) rate for import duties to N1,474.69 per dollar.

This is N278 or 23.2 percent higher than the N1,196.61/$ rate adopted on May 30.

TheCable observed that the new rate reflected on the single window trade portal of the federal government on Friday.

Customs typically adopt FX rates recommended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for import duties based on trading activities in the official FX market.

However, the customs rate is marginally lower than the official FX rate of N1,484/$ recorded at the close of trade on May 30.

The presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, on May 30, said it has asked the federal government to adopt an exchange rate of N800 per dollar for customs import duty.

Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the committee, while presenting some recommendations of the committee, expressed concern over the import duty rate which constantly changes due to the volatility of the FX market.

Oyedele said that since the government used N800/$ to plan the budget, it would not lose anything if the same exchange rate is used for import duty collection.

He also said adopting the proposed import duty FX rate would help the economy bring down the price of importation which would also help with inflation.