The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has reiterated the call for the Nigerian government to peg the custom duty exchange rate at N1,000 per dollar for at least six months.

CPPE director, Muda Yusuf disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

The economic think tank group said the government needs to tackle the unpredictable nature of the country’s exchange for cargo clearance to complement fiscal measures to mitigate the cost-of-living crisis in Nigeria.

CPPE said the country’s high and volatile exchange rate for import duty assessment is fueling inflation, cost production and operation costs for manufacturers and businesses.

“…In light of this, the CPPE is reiterating its appeal to the presidency to peg the customs duty exchange rate at N1000/$ for the next six months in the first instance through an Executive Order.

“This resonates with the current federal government’s commitment to alleviating the current hardships on the citizens and the burden on businesses. It is gratifying that the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms made a similar recommendation. The Organized Private Sector, OPS had also strongly advocated in the same vein.

“The current customs duty exchange rate on the Nigeria Customs Service portal is N1,578 per dollar. This rate has been changing almost weekly, which is not good for the investment environment.

“It is important to clarify that this proposition is without prejudice to the ongoing foreign exchange reforms of the present administration. Contrary to concerns expressed in some quarters, the adoption of a lower exchange rate for the computation of customs duty would not undermine the current foreign exchange reforms. It is not a request for a concessionary exchange rate for forex allocation.

“We are dealing with two separate issues here. One is about foreign exchange policy, the other is purely a trade policy matter. The responsibility of the CBN should end at the point of opening Form M for importers within the context of extant foreign exchange policy. All other matters relating to international trade should be within the remit of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment. These are the institutions statutorily responsible for trade policy issues. The determination of the customs duty exchange rate by the CBN is an intrusion into trade policy space which needs to be urgently corrected”, he stated.

The development comes as the federal government recently began a 150-day import duty waiver for selected staple food items.

Recall that Nigeria’s inflation dropped in July to 33.95 percent, 2024 for the first since 2022.