Harboursandport.com: Lagos - The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday confirmed the jacking up of exchange rate for the clearance of cargoes from the port. The 22.24 per cent increase will worsen the inflationary trend in the country stakeholders have warned.
The increase is expected to drive the cost of
clearing a 1x40 foot container from N7.3 million to N8.9 million, irrespective
of when or how much the importer paid for the goods.
Speaking at Silver Jubilee anniversary of the League of Maritime
Editors held in Lagos, Comptroller-General of Customs,
Adewale Adeniyi said that the agency was not aware of the development until it
was communicated by the Ministry of Finance adding that the agency only carry
out the directive of government.
Adeniyi who was
represented by the Customs Area Comptroller, CAC of Tin-can Island Command,
Dera Nnadi, said that the Service is not oblivious of what await importers
adding that the agency will maximize its service delivery and work on clear
cargoes as soon as they are processed.
He said: "I
recognize the import of this exchange rate particularly when it is done without
prior notice on trade.
"Before I came
here I addressed freight forwarders and we recognise what the Nigerian business
community is going through and there is little we can do about fiscal and
monetary policies, our role is to implement them.
"But we align
ourselves with government policies because every decision taken is for the
collective interest of the nation and I expect that we all abide by it
"What I said we
should do as Customs which I told the freight forwarders and clearing agents
this morning is that to mitigate the impact of what they are going to go
through in the next few days; is that we will maximize our service delivery by
ensuring that importers do not incur demurrage and associated costs."
Recall that in the
month of May, the import duty rate rose from N420.00 to N775.00 in August. The
federal government further jacked up the exchange rate to N778,00 in November
and then the current increase of N952,00.
Also reacting to the
development, the Secretary General of the Association of Concerned Freight
Forwarders of Nigeria, Jonny Ubaka said the development will result in higher
level of inflation.
According to him, “We just woke up
this morning to find out that the exchange rate has been jacked up and it has
also jacked up the N7.3 million that we use to pay for clearing a 1x40
container to N8.9 million.
“The
official exchange rate is now N952 to a dollar. Customs will not consider when
and how much an importer bought his/her goods, any file that gets to Customs
today, they will use the new rate. The effect is that the economy will be
affected and the cost of such goods will also go up.
“Image
where N1.6 million is added to the cost of clearing goods at the port, the
masses will also suffer because the importer has no option than to add it up to
the cost of the goods and the prices at the point of buying it will also go
up,” he noted.
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