Customs Exchange Rate Benchmark Drops to N1, 327.54/$1

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The Nigeria Customs Service has updated its exchange rate for calculating import duties, setting it at N1,327.54/$, even as this was updated on its Single Window Platform as at 29th of May 2024.

The exchange rate decreased from N1,382.392 to N1, 327.54.

The customs exchange is officially set by the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development whose recent fluctuations have impacted negatively on importation, ports business predictability and has caused economic inflation.

It is partinent to note that, at the end of trading on Monday, the naira gained N143 against the dollar when compared to the previous exchange rate of N1,482/$1 on Friday, May 24, 2024.

Also, as it is, importers will open Form ‘M’ at a lower rate compared to those who opened Form ‘M’ on Friday, May 24, 2024, according to the central bank’s new directive to Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to use the rate on the date of submitting Form ‘M’ for calculating import duties.

Stakeholders in the port business, especially the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) have continued to pressure CBN to Benchmark the exchange rate for Cargo clearance at six months or quarterly intervals.

National President of ANLCA, Emenike Nwokeoji in a recent interview, lamented that the non-predictability and exchange rate fluctuations has paralysed import and export business at the port under the President Bola Tinubu administration.