CBN Adjusts Import Duty Rate again after Naira’s Crash against Dollar
- The Central Bank of Nigeria has set the import duty for cargo clearance at N1,457.014 as the naira fell against the dollar
- The adjustment in the Customs duty follows the crash of the naira, which was quoted at an intraday high of N1,515 in the official market
- The development means importers will pay N42.415 extra for every dollar to clear their goods from the nation’s ports
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Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.
Following the naira's depreciation, the Central Bank of Nigeria has raised the exchange rate for calculating import duty at Nigeria’s ports to N1,457.014 per dollar.
The Customs Forex duty rate represents a three-percent hike in the rate of each dollar needed to clear goods from the ports.
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CBN adds N42.415 to Customs duty rate
The new rate is according to information from the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The increase also represents an addition of N42.415 in the exchange rate of each dollar required to clear goods at the ports.
Reports say the development means importers opening Form M as of Monday, May 13, 2024, will require more money to pay import duties than those who opened the form on Monday, May 10, 2024, when the FX rate traded lower for cargo clearing.
The Nigerian currency continued on a seven-week depreciation on Monday, May 13, 2024, when the spot rate traded for N1,515 per dollar on the FMDQ Exchange.
Data from the exchange shows that the naira closed trading in the official market at N1,478.11 per dollar on Monday, May 13, 2024, as against the N1,466.31 it traded on Friday, May 10, 2024.
The Nigerian currency also depreciated in the parallel market at N1,520 on Monday, May 13, as against the N1,490 it traded on Friday, May 10, 2024.
The naira depreciated by 0.45% as the dollar quoted at N1,466.31, lower than the N1,459.73 it quoted on Thursday, May 9, 2024, at the FMDQ Exchange.
New predictions put naira at N2,212/$
Analysts say the naira may continue depreciating to N2,000 unless the CBN resumes FX sales to BDCs.
Data from the FMDQ Exchange shows that the Forex market recorded a turnover of $217.64 million, up from $112 million recorded on Friday, May 10, 2024.
The naira has been on a seven-week fall after emerging as the world’s best-performing currency in April.
The local currency reversed its gains a few weeks later, becoming the worst-performing currency despite a series of reforms by the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure stability.
To intervene in the retail segment of the forex market, the CBN resumed dollar sales to BDCs in February. Since then, the apex bank has held three editions of the dollar.
The naira’s fall follows a report by Standard Bank that it will eventually settle at N1,212 per dollar by December 2024.
The bank also predicted that the country will experience a forex inflow of $5.1 billion in the second quarter of this year.
Importers to pay more to clear goods
Legit.ng previously reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) readjusted the rate to calculate customs import duties at the nation's ports and airports.
Customs duties are taxes and levies paid on goods imported into the country.
The duties are paid through a commercial bank to the Nigeria Customs Service, which receives on behalf of the federal government.
Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng
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