Customs maintain N1,474/$ for import duties as naira stabilises

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has maintained N1,474.09 per dollar as the foreign exchange (FX) rate for import tariffs and duties for over a week.

The current rate has remained the same for the past 10 days.

TheCable observed the current rate on the federal government’s single window trade portal on Monday.

According to information on the portal, the NCS FX rate reduced by 6.31 percent — from N1,477.64/$ on June 14, to N1,474.09 on June 15.

From June 15 to June 24, the rate has remained at N1,474.09/$.

TheCable observed that the customs FX rate at the beginning of June stood at N1,482, however, it dropped to N1,474 on June 5.

The FX rate fluctuated, trading at N1,480.6 on June 6, N1,485.3 on June 7 and N1,447.9 per dollar on June 8.

The customs portal recorded some stability on June 9 and 10 as the import duty rate remained at N1,447.9 per dollar.

However, this changed on June 11 when it increased to N1,485.3.

Checks by TheCable showed that on June 12 and 13, the agency’s FX rate was further reduced and stood at N1,473.1 — but rose to N1,477.6 on June 14.

Customs typically use FX rates recommended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for import duties based on trading activities in the country’s official forex market.

On February 23, the CBN directed customs and other related parties to adopt the closing rate in the official foreign exchange (FX) window for import duty.

Customs has maintained the N1,474.09/$ rate for 10 days following the naira’s stability in the official market.

The naira has traded between N1,472/$ and N1,484/$ since the beginning of this month.

On June 15, when Customs began to maintain the rate, the official FX rate was N1,474/$, and as of June 21, the local currency traded at N1,480/$.