The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has increased the foreign exchange (FX) rate for import duties to N1,474.69 per dollar on Friday.
The adjusted rate translated into a raise of N278 or 23.2 per cent higher than the N1,196.61/$ rate adopted on Thursday, May 30.
It was learnt that the new rate reflected on the single window trade portal of the Federal Government on Friday.
Customs adopts FX rates recommended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for import duties according to trading activities in the official FX market.
However, the Customs rate is slightly lower than the official FX rate of N1,484/$ recorded at the close of trade on May 30.
Meanwhile, the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, said yesterday that it has asked the federal government to adopt an exchange rate of N800 per dollar for customs import duty.
The Chairman of the Committee, Taiwo Oyedele during the presentation of some recommendations of the committee, expressed worries over the import duty rate which constantly changes due to the volatility of the FX market.
Oyedele said that since the government used N800/$ to plan the budget, it would not lose anything if the same exchange rate is used for import duty collection.
He also said adopting the proposed import duty FX rate would help the economy bring down the price of importation which would also help with inflation.
