CBN hikes exchange rate for cargo clearance
By Temitope Adebayo
Customs exchange rate for clearance of cargoes at the nation’s seaports reached an all-time high, on Thursday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), reviewed it upward by N33.61 representing 2.2 percent.
The latest available data showed that the exchange rate for cargo clearance has been adjusted to N1,515.092/$1, an upward readjustment which came less than 24 hours after it moved from N1444.56/$1 to N1,481.482/$1.
This development, however, indicates that the Customs exchange rate for the first time is higher than the official exchange rate.
According to the data obtained from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the domestic currency closed at N1,503/$1 on Wednesday, 14th February 2024.
MarÃtime experts have, however, argued that with the upward review, Nigerians will pay more to clear their goods at the port because import duties are benchmarked against the dollar.
Also, the adjustment will be the 6th in 13 days and the 10th since the beginning of the administration of President Bola Tinubu in May 2023.
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It would be recalled that earlier on June 24, 2023, the CBN adjusted the exchange rate from N422.30/$ to N589/$, and on July 6, 2023, it was adjusted to N770.88/$, on November 14, 2023, it was adjusted to N783.174/$, in December it was adjusted to N951.941/$.
Also, on February 2 it was moved to N1, 356.883/$ and on February 3, it was raised to N1, 413.62/$, on Saturday, February 10, it was changed to N1,417.635/$, on Monday, February 11, it was moved to N1,444.56/$1 and on Wednesday, February 14, the CBN adjusted the exchange rate to N1481.482/$1.
However, the latest increment was on Thursday, February 15th, 2023 as it was moved to N1,515.092/$1.
Reacting to the development, the National President of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, advised freight forwarders to join forces with the Civil Society groups, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), to redeem the masses from the excruciating economic situation.
The APFFLON president berated the Ministry of Finance and the CBN for losing control of the domestic currency which warranted its free fall.
Ogunojemite, however, regretted the level of hardship being experienced by Nigerians, saying upward adjustment of the Customs duty exchange rate would continue to hit harder on the masses.
“Customs has no hand in the continued increase in tariff. It should be blamed on the CBN under the watch of Dr Olayemi Cardozo and his counterparts at the Federal Ministry of Finance. What we are witnessing today is as a result of sheer incompetence because businesses are dying, manufacturers are shutting down, ports are almost deserted because freight forwarders have no jobs any more,” he said.
