Floating Naira: Imminent drawback to revenue as Customs Duty Exchange Rate rises again to ₦783.174

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

Even as importers are yet to recover from the last rise in foreign exchange rate which the Nigerian Customs Service said has caused vehicle importers to abandoned thousands of imported fairly used vehicles at the seaport, exchange rate for calculations of import duties has increased again from N770.88/$ to ₦783.174/$.

It has been discovered that the changes were officially reflected on the Customs portal on Thursday through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is in line with decision of the Federal Government on floating the Naira.

Revelations have shown that the new rates would now guide the importers and clearing agents as they make quotations for new jobs and for capturing as well as for payments.

The CBN had authorized banks to sell foreign exchange freely at market-determined rates, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to a single exchange rate regime.

This move according to the government, aims to attract investment and address concerns raised by multilateral lending organizations about the negative impact of multiple currency rates on the economy.
It will be recalled that the Customs area controller, Tin Can Island Command, Compt. Dera Nnadi, expressed worry over the continued drop in cargo throughput at the command over the floating naira some months ago.

Nnadi who made the revelation when members of the Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents (ANLCA) paid him a courtesy visit, stated that the number of vehicles throughput into the command had continued to dwindle from 32,000 in 2018 to 6,000 in 2022 and a mere 4,000 units in 2023.