In 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has increased the Customs duties exchange rate for the third time. The import duties have been revised to N1,417.63 per US dollar from N1,413.62. This adjustment means Nigerians will have to pay more to clear their goods at the port as import duties are pegged against the dollar.
The latest increment of N4.015 represents a 0.28% increase, as the official exchange rate stood at N1,469.97 per US dollar in the foreign market on Friday. This marks the third exchange rate hike in 2024 and is the seventh adjustment made by the apex bank within eight months since President Tinubu’s administration introduced the floating naira policy to stabilize the forex market.
Previously, the Customs had adjusted the exchange rate on multiple occasions, including raising it from N422.30/$ to N589/$ on June 24, 2023, and further to N770.88/$ on July 6, 2023. Subsequent adjustments followed on November 14, 2023 (N783.174/$), December (N951.941/$), February 2 (N1,356.883/$), and February 3 (N1,413.62/$), culminating in the latest hike to N1,417.635/$.
Experts have raised concerns that the continuous increase in import duties will lead to higher prices of imported goods and services in the country. Bisiriyu Fanu, former chairman of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents at Seme Border, emphasized that the hike in Customs duty, driven by high FX rates, will impact all goods in the market due to their imported inputs.
Earlier, Muda Yusuf, Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, expressed lamentation that increased import duty would further impoverish Nigerians.
