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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the exchange rate for paying Customs duties at the nation’s seaports by 11.1 percent in response to the recent depreciation of the naira against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.
The Customs FX duty rate has been raised from N1,150.16/$ to N1,277.526/$, according to information obtained from the Nigeria Customs Service’s official trade portal.
This adjustment marks an 11.1 percent rise in the rate compared to the previous rate of N1,150.16/$ used for opening Form M, resulting in an increase of N127.366 on a dollar required to clear goods at the port.
This development comes as the naira continues to depreciate at the official end of the market, closing at N1,309.88 to the dollar on Thursday, a 12 percent week to date decline on the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
Despite a rise in turnover from $89 million to $110 million, the value of the naira has lost N139.89 or 12 percent of its value within the past four days.
On Monday, the value of the naira had closed weaker at N1,234.49, and by Tuesday, it had further depreciated to N1,300.15 to the dollar, with intra-day trading seeing deals consummated between N1,317 and N1000.
By Wednesday, the value of the naira continued to decline, closing at N1,308.52 to the dollar, with trades consummated between N1,367 and N1,098 to the dollar, and a turnover of $197.54 million.
On Thursday, the value of the naira slightly depreciated to N1,309.88 to the dollar, with intraday deals consummated between N1,439 and N1,000, and a turnover rising significantly to $318.08 million.
Traders note that the depreciation in the value of the dollar is due to market forces as demand continues to outstrip supply, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria selling dollars to bureau de change operators on Monday.
As a result, 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.
The recent developments highlight the challenges faced by the Nigerian economy as it grapples with the impact of currency depreciation and the need for sustainable measures to address these issues.
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