The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Bashir Adeniyi has stated that the service will use the exchange rate on the official CBN window for clearing goods and would not engage in arbitrary increase or decrease in exchange rate.
Mr Bashir stated this during an interview on Arise TV on the plans and vision for the organisation under his leadership.
According to him, the policy of merging the multiple exchange rate windows has repercussions on the operations of the NCS.
He also mentioned that Nigeria Customs does not independently fix its exchange rate for goods clearance but just updates its system based on what is on the Central Bank’s official window.
He said, “It is not about customs increasing the rates. We have nothing to do with whether the rates go up or come down. We follow what is prescribed for us by the regulatory authority for monetary affairs which is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”
NCS to follow fiscal directives of the FG
Speaking further, the CG mentioned that the Customs Service would adhere to the fiscal policies of the administration concerning import and export duties.
Specifically, he mentioned the removal of 7.5% VAT on LPG equipment imports and the removal of VAT on steel and Electric vehicle imports into the country.
Revenue generation and trade facilitation
The Comptroller General also noted that the duties of the Customs Service go beyond revenue generation but trade facilitation and NCS hopes to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) to improve trade trade between African countries which coincidentally leads to more revenue generation.
However, he noted that the Customs Service has increased its revenues by 37% since he assumed office and has set a target of N5.1 trillion in revenues for 2024.
Insights
In the past three months, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has increased the exchange rate for clearance of goods twice.
In November, the customs service revised the exchange rate upward from N757/$ to N783/$. This represented a 3.43% increase.
However, in December, Customs increased the exchange rate by 22.8% from N783 to the USD to 951/$. The reviewed exchange rate for December aligned closely with the exchange rate on the unofficial window.
