Reprieve as CBN slashes Customs FX duty rate to N1,247/$1

FURTHER reprieve came the way of importers on Monday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), again, slashed the exchange rate for calculating Customs duties at the nation’s seaports by 1.1 percent.

Information obtained from the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service showed that the apex bank slashed the Customs FX duty rate from N1,260.49/$ to N1,246.665/$ on Monday, April 8.

This is about 1.1 percent reduction compared to the old rate of N1,260.49/$ used for the opening of Form M as of Friday, April 5, and a decrease of N13.825 on the dollar needed to clear goods at the port.

The slash is coming on the back of the continuing appreciation of the naira in the foreign exchange market, as the local currency traded N1,251.05/$ at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on April 5.

The implication is that importers that opened Form M on Monday, April 8 for importation had some relief in terms of the amount required for import duties compared to the importer who opened Form M on

Friday, April 5.

Using the Form M exchange rate to calculate import duties 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.

Meanwhile, there are expectations that the FX rate will witness further decline as the naira grows stronger, even as the apex bank plans to sell $15.88 million to 1,588 eligible Bureau De Charge (BDC).

CBN also reviewed the exchange rate for BDC operators to N1,101 per dollar from N1,251/$1.