The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the foreign exchange (FX) rate for the clearance of goods from N1444.56/$ to N1515.09 against the one United States dollar (USD), representing an increase of N70.53 compared to the prior rate.
Before the latest adjustment of the rate, the single-window trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service indicated that the FX rate for clearance of goods was N1,444.56 to the USD before the latest adjustment to N1515.09.
Based on its tariff order, the Service imposes duties on imported cargoes before clearance from the ports, with the charges ranging from 5% to 35% depending on the harmonized commodity and coding system (HS code).
In recent weeks, the apex bank has been regularly adjusting the exchange rate for goods clearance to align with the rate in the official window.
Specifically, on February 2 this year, the CBN has adjusted the rate three times from N951.94/$ to N1356.88/$1, representing an increase of 42.7% over the former FX rate before the latest upward adjustment.
The CBN Governor, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, has over the past few weeks expressed serious concerns over the sustained depreciation of the Naira, partly attributing it rising volume of transactions on the FX market which, he noted, recently crossed over $1 billion and the first time such a volume was recorded over the years.
He partly attributed the increase in the volume of transactions to the series of ongoing reforms by the apex bank, including the suspension of the CBN’s development finance programmes, and removing the cap on the spread of interbank transactions, among others.
Cardoso pointed out that the apex bank’s monetary policies were intended to discourage arbitrage, and increase FX inflow to the economy, especially from the diaspora.
