The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has slashed the customs duty rate for importers clearing goods at the ports.

According to data from Nigeria's trade portal, importers will now pay N1,621.25 per dollar as of Wednesday, October 09, 2024.

This is a 2.77% reduction when compared to the N1,667.61 exchange rate quoted on Friday, October 4, 2024.

Why did CBN slash customs duty?

The new customs exchange rate follows the recent improvement of the naira against the US dollar.

On Tuesday, October 8, the naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 4.5% or N73.39 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM)forex market.

Tuesday's official market exchange rate was N1,561.76/$1, in contrast to the N1,635.15/$1 recorded in the preceding trading session.

Also, the domestic currency gained N43.82 against the British pound sterling in the spot market during the trading day to quote at N2,131.62/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N2,175.44/£1 and remained unchanged against the euro at N1,788.98/€1.

Muda Yusuf wants N1,000/$ exchange rate

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) called on the CBN to peg the Customs duty rate to N1000/$ to ease the current hardships in the country.

Chief executive officer of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, who made the call, believes that a significant policy adjustment is necessary to complement current measures to address the country's ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

The renowned economist emphasised that adopting a lower exchange rate would help stabilise the price of goods in the market.