However, whatever respite and joy importers felt with the news of the import duty slash were shortlived after the apex bank announced an increase barely a day later.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has again increased the exchange rate for paying import duty by 14 percent.
The latest increase is coming less than 24 hours after reducing the foreign exchange rate for calculating import duty at the nation’s seaports, bringing reprieve to importers.
However, whatever respite and joy importers felt with the news of the import duty slash were shortlived after the apex bank announced an increase barely a day later.
Information on the hike for the exchange rate in paying import duty is contained on the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
According to the notice, the apex bank raised the Customs FX duty rate from N1,164.84/$ to N1,327.35/$ on Monday, April 29.
The increase represents a 14 percent hike in rate compared to the old rate of N1,164.84/$ previously used for the opening Form M and an increase of N162.51 on a dollar needed to clear goods at the port.
With this development, importers opening Form M today will require more money to pay import duties than those who opened Form M at the weekend.
Recall that the naira had its worst run last week since the devaluation in January, falling 7.8 percent to N1,339.23 on Friday from N1,234.49 at the beginning of the week, according to data by FMDQ Securities Exchange.
The naira appreciated to N1,280/$ Saturday, an 8.57 percent gain compared to N1,400/$ Friday, according to multiple traders who spoke with BusinessDay
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