Nigeria Customs increases FX rate by 23 per cent, increases to N1,474/$

The foreign exchange (FX) rate for import duties was raised by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to N1,474.69 per dollar on Friday.

The rate that was adopted on Thursday, May 30, was N1,196.61/$, or 23.2 percent lower than the adjusted rate of N278.

It was discovered that the new rate was shown on Friday on the Federal Government’s single window trading site. For import tariffs, Customs uses foreign exchange rates that are suggested by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) based on trade activity on the official foreign exchange market.

Nonetheless, the official FX rate of N1,484/$, which was recorded at the close of trading on May 30, is marginally higher than the Customs rate.

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

The Chairman of the Committee, Taiwo Oyedele during the presentation of some recommendations of the committee, expressed worries 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.