CBN Leaves Customs FX Rates for Cargo Clearance Unchanged as Naira Rebounds

• The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has left the Customs exchange rates for cargo clearance unchanged for almost one week
• The development comes despite the naira experiencing volatility against the US dollar in the last few days
• Meanwhile, the naira ended the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, September 9, 2024, at N1,580.46/$1.

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have ignored experts’ warnings about constantly changing the Customs exchange rates for cargo clearance to leave them at N1,000 per dollar quarterly.

The development comes as the Customs Exchange rates for Cargo clearance remained unchanged for almost one week.

Importers express relief

Information from the Customs trade portal shows that the last time the CBN tweaked the Customs FX rates was September 5, 2024, when it crashed from N1,625.88 per dollar to N1,564.929.

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Since then, the financial institution’s regulator has left the rate unchanged despite the naira experiencing volatility for several days.

The current rate provides some stability for importers who have continuously explained that it is challenging to decide when to initiate goods clearance in the ports due to unpredictable FX rates.

This came as the naira rebounded against the US dollar on Monday, September 9, 2024, trading at N1,580.46 per dollar.

Naira rebounds against the dollar

Data from FMDQ Exchange, the trading platform, showed that the naira ended the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, September 9, 2024, at N1,580.46/$1. 

The new exchange rate is a 0.81% or N12.86 improvement compared to Friday’s closing rate of N1,593.32/$1. 

The positive outcome comes despite the decline in forex turnover for the trading session by $47.8 million or 19.5% to $197.37 million from $245.17 million. 

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However, in the spot market, the Nigerian Naira closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at the official market during the session at N2,144.61/£1 and N1,804.99/€1, respectively. 

CBN sells dollars to BDCs

In the parallel market, also known as the black market, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the US greenback on Monday by N5 to sell for N1,650/$1 versus last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,655/$1.

Meanwhile, the CBN injected more supplies into the forex markets last Friday to strengthen the naira.

Also, the CBN approved the sale of $20,000 each to an unspecified number of eligible Bureau De Change (BDC) operators at N1,580 to a Dollar. 

Access, Zenith, others sell dollars high in official market

Legit.ng earlier reported that the naira crashed to a new low on Thursday, September 5, 2024, following continued volatility in the FX markets.

The Nigerian foreign exchange market recorded a low turnover as dollar supply grew thin in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

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Naira trades at new rates against pound after massive gains against USD as CBN sells dollars to BDCs

Data from the FMDQ Exchange shows that the naira crashed to N1,639.41 per dollar on Thursday, September 5, 2024.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng