The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has advised the federal government to peg the foreign exchange (FX) rate for customs duty at N1,000/$ for the next six months.
Chief executive officer of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, in a statement, said the current rate – N1,578/$ – is too high.
He further pointed out that the volatile exchange rate for import duty assessment is fuelling the already high inflation rate, increasing production and operating costs for manufacturers and other businesses, adding that this has worsened the cost-of-living crisis, putting maritime sector jobs and investments at risk and weakening investors’ confidence.
Yusuf further said there is also an added heightened risk of cargo diversion to neighbouring countries and smuggling which could jeopardise the realisation of customs revenue target.
This situation, Yusuf pointed out, will create additional competitiveness challenges for ethical and compliant investors in the economy because of their relatively elevated production and operating costs.
He added that the proposal to peg the rate was in line with recommendations from the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms as well as the Organised private Sector (OPS) had also strongly advocated in the same vein.”
Yusuf explained that this proposition is without prejudice to the ongoing foreign exchange reforms of the present administration and will not undermine it and is also not a request for a concessionary exchange rate for forex allocation but is rather, a trade policy matter.
“The responsibility of the CBN should end at the point of opening of Form M for importers within the context of extant foreign exchange policy.
“All other matters relating to international trade should be within the remit of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment,” CPPE said in the statement.
