FG raises exchange rate for cargo clearance to N1,356/$
The Nigerian government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the exchange rate for cargo clearance from N952/$ to N1.356 per dollar.
This adjustment follows recent increases in the exchange rate for cargo clearance, reflecting a continuing trend of fluctuations in the country’s foreign exchange policies.
The exchange rate for cargo clearance was initially raised from N757 per dollar to N783 per dollar in November, representing a 3.4% increase.
According to information obtained from the Customs official website on Friday, the exchange rate for cargo clearing was adjusted from N951.941 per dollar to N1,356.883/$.
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“The FX rates of naira against the dollar and exchange rate for clearing imports imposed by the Nigeria Customs is very high. All these are leading to a decline in the volume of imports,” said Tony Anakebe, a licensed Customs agent.
He said importers are now under pressure because they buy dollars at a very high rate and source a lot of money to clear the goods when they arrive at the port even when it is also difficult to secure bank loans to fund import business.
Adewale Adeniyi, comptroller general of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), said early this year that the Service will use only the exchange rate on the official Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) window for clearing of imported goods and would not engage in arbitrary increase or decrease in the exchange rate.
He said the policy of merging the multiple exchange rate windows has repercussions on the operations of the Customs.
He said that the Nigeria Customs Service does not independently fix its exchange rate for goods clearance but only updates its system based on what is on the CBN’s official window.
