The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy, Taiwo Oyedele, has attributed the delay to fixing standard custom import duties on the fluctuation of the country’s exchange rate. Oyedele In a statement signed on Tuesday, said the 2023 reenacted Customs Act mandates a market-driven exchange rate. This too impacts on the imported food items.
Citing the 2023 Customs Act, oyedele said President Bola Tinubu cannot sign an executive order to implement a fixed exchange rate for Customs duties.
An earlier report had indicated that the currency fell on the Bureau de Change segment of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to an all-time low of N1,710 per dollar, the weakest level since February 2024. Addressing the exchange rate vulnerability, Oyedele assured the committee’s commitment to ensure modification will pass through the National Assembly.
He said, “The other point that my brother raised is that our recommendation that the customs service should use a fixed exchange rate that is much lower than the actual rate hasn’t been implemented. And it’s several factors.
“The biggest one is that the Nigeria Customs Service was repealed and reenacted in 2023, which is last year. In that law, it says that the exchange rate to use for Custom must be the official exchange rate, which means even though we drafted an executive order, the president cannot just sign or override the law.
“We then have to grow through the process of trying to change the language in the law so that when it becomes necessary, maybe later in the future, it will not be as complicated as it is now.
“But I think there’s a general understanding within government that these interventions are extremely important”.
