The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has slashed the exchange rate for computing Customs duties at the nation’s seaports by 5.2 percent.
The slash by the apex bank, which reflects the strength of the Naira in the foreign exchange market, saw the FX rate for Customs duty payment decline from N1,330.26/$ to N1,260.49/$ on Friday, April 5, according to information obtained from the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service.
This equals about a 5.2 percent reduction in rate compared to the old rate of N1,330.26/$ used for the opening of Form M as of Thursday, April 4, and a decrease of N69.77 on a dollar needed to clear goods from the port.
The reduction in exchange rate for Customs duty payment was anticipated as the Naira continued to rally against the United States dollar (USD) to trade at N1,255.07/$ at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, April 4, setting the stage for easing the cost of imports.
Therefore, importers opening Form M today Friday, April 5 for importation will have some measures of relief in terms of the money required to pay import duties compared to the importer who opened Form M on Thursday, April 4.
It 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.
