The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has reduced the exchange rate for import duties from N1238.1 to the dollar to N1,147/$. This implies a drop of N91.1 since it was last reviewed on the 10th of April.
The exchange rate for import duties collected by the Customs has been static at N1238/$ for over one week, the longest it has stayed at a particular rate in recent times.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) always, through the CBN, fixed the exchange rate to reflect the official market rate on the NAFEM window, hence the regular changes in rate.
In the past month, Naira has been gaining significantly in official and parallel markets due to the reforms instituted by the CBN.
Part of the reforms made by the Apex bank include selling USD to BDCs at N1101/$, cash pooling for IOCs, which limited the amount of FX they could repatriate immediately, and others.
The gains recorded by the Naira in recent times have resulted in Analysts predicting it to be one of the best-performing currencies globally.
The President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON) revealed in an interview that BDC operators were purchasing dollars at N980/$—a figure that is way below the FX rate on the official window.
Many persons have recently alleged that the management of CBN was defending the Naira with the country’s foreign reserve on the back of observed declines in the FX reserve.
In an earlier report, Nigeria’s foreign reserve dropped by over $2 billion in the past month. According to the report, the FX reserve dropped from $34.45 billion to $32.29 billion- the lowest in about six years.
Refuting the allegation, the Governor of the CBN, Yemi Cardoso, stated that the bank did not intend to defend the Naira. Instead, the drop in foreign reserves resulted from external debt obligation.
