Despite the ongoing continued rising profile of the naira to a dollar in the official and parallel markets, the Nigeria Customs Service has displayed crass insensitivity to the plight of Nigerian importers by making an insignificant 3 percent reduction in the exchange rate for computing Customs duties at the nation’s seaports.
Shockingly, the Customs FX duty rate was reviewed downward from N1, 448.386/$ to a non-responsive N1, 405.466/$ on Tuesday, March 26, as obtained by Theliberationnews on the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service.
As at Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), supplied dollars at N1,251 to the Bureau De Change operators. Why the Customs FX duty clearing rate is fixed above N1,251 to a dollar by the customs reflects nothing but crass exploitation of investors in the importation business. And this is projecting the image of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in bad light.
It is either the customs is being mischievous and wicked or that the CBN is playing pranks with the toil and investments of hardworking importers in this country.
The slashed rate of about 3 percent for opening of Form M as of Monday, March 26, signifying a decrease of N42.92 on a dollar is far below the expectations of suffering of millions of Nigerians with these imported items, especially vehicles, priced beyond their reach.
Anything short of harmonizing customs duty clearing rates to be in tandem with the apex bank’s N1,251/$1 rate being accorded the BDCs is nothing but official rigmarole that will lead to further impacting negatively on the already high cost of doing business at the port with attendant inexorable acceleration of prices of commodities in Nigeria.
