By Steve Agbota
To cushion the effects of the persisting economic crisis, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has slashed the exchange rate for computing import duty on cargo by 19.2.per cent in the last two weeks.
The development is seen as the needed succour that will ultimately crash the prices of imported goods.
Daily Sun learnt that the exchange rate has been reduced by N309 between March 15 and 29, 2024 as prices of goods are expected to experience a drop in local markets across the country.
To this effect, prices of imported goods such as cement, food items, sugar, drugs and other raw materials are also expected to drop significantly in the near future.
The manufacturers of these products attributed the high Customs exchange rate as reasons for the increase in price in the past few months but the reduction is expected to see a downward price movement in the coming months.
Daily Sun learned that the reduction is the seventh time in the last two weeks, a situation welcomed by clearing agents at the sea and airports.
The timeline of the reduction as revealed on the Nigeria Trade Hub are as follows: March 15, 2024: N1, 612/$, March 16, 2024: N1, 593/$1, March 19, 2024: N1,572/$1, March 23, 2024: N1,448/$1, March 26, 2024: N1,405/$1, March 28, 2024: N1,364/$1, March 29 2024: N1,303/$1.
To this end, importers that filled Form M last Wednesday, will pay less to clear their cargo as import duties are benchmarked against the dollar.
Also, importers would open Form M at a lower rate on Friday compared to those who opened Form M last Thursday, March 28, 2024 due to the apex bank’s directive to Customs to use the rate on the date of submitting Form M for calculating import duties.
Clearing agents who spoke with Daily Sun over the weekend commended the Federal Government for the action which they say would be of advantage to them.
A Customs broker, Akin Omokeinde, said that there is need for government to bring the exchange rate for imported goods, adding that clearing agents want the exchange rate down to N700 or N800.
“We appreciate the government for reducing the exchange rate more than seven times in the last two weeks but we still want it to come down.
“When they bring the exchange rate down to N800, more imports will come in and clearing agents will have work to and more revenue will go into government’s coffers.
“It is an appeal because as it is, things are still very hard and prices of goods are still very high. These are attributed to high foreign exchange rate, which has affected almost every sector of the economy,” he said.