The Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria has again raised the exchange rate for cargo clearance to N1,605/$.
This is coming days after the rate rose to N1515/ $ and later dropped to N1,472/$.
Since the beginning of this year, the rate has risen a couple of times, from N952/$ in December to N1356/$, and was moved to N1,413/$ before it went to N1,444/$. The rate was again moved to N1,515 before finally getting to N1,605.
Checks on the portal of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday, revealed that the latest change had already been reflected.
On February 15, the CBN carried out an upward review of the exchange rate for the clearance of goods from N1444.56/$ to N1515.09/$.
The Nigeria Customs Service imposes duties on imported cargoes before clearance from the ports. These charges range from 5 per cent to 35 per cent depending on the harmonised commodity and coding system (HS code).
In a recent appearance before the senate, Governor of the Central Bank, Yemi Cardoso stated that the volume of transactions on the FX market has crossed $1 billion – the first time in years.
He opined that the increase in the volume of transactions is due to the series of reforms embarked on by the apex bank. Some of these reforms include the discontinuance of the CBN development finance program, removing the cap on the spread of interbank transactions and many others. He noted that the bank’s policies are geared to discourage arbitrage, and increase inflow, especially from the diaspora.