Nigeria Customs has adjusted its FX rate for import duties to N1,530/$, a 6.13% increase compared to N1,441.58 previously adopted.
The naira appreciated by N90 on the parallel segment of the
foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, as it closed at N1,450/$1, compared to
the previous day’s rate of N1,540/$1.
The positive trend extended to the official Nigerian
Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, where the naira appreciated
by N36.66, closing at N1,497.33/$1 compared to the N1,533.99/$1 which it closed
on Thursday.
The comes just as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to hold its third meeting of the year
on Monday and Tuesday next week, with analysts predicting further monetary
tightening due to sustained inflationary pressure.
However, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has adjusted its
FX rate for import duties to N1,530/$, a 6.13 percent increase compared to the
N1,441.58 previously adopted.
The significant appreciation recorded by the naira against
the greenback on the official and parallel markets on Friday, was attributed
partly to recent arrests in Lagos, Abuja, and some other major cities of
currency hawkers, sources told THISDAY.
The daily FX turnover recorded a decline in transactions of
69.41 percent, to $83.50 million on Friday, compared to the $272.86 million
recorded on Thursday.
Furthermore, the highest spot rate observed on Friday stood
at N1,555, with the lowest spot rate recorded at N1,415
In its prediction on the outcome of the MPC meeting,
analysts at Cordros Capital Limited, noted that as in previous meetings, “we
expect the Committee to consider developments in the global and domestic
economy since the last policy meeting. On the global scene, interest rates
remain elevated amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions. “Domestically, although
consumer prices have slowed on a month-on-month basis, we note that inflation
risks are skewed to the upside due to the volatility of the naira in the foreign
exchange market and the anticipated review of the minimum wage. “Hence, we
anticipate the MPC to tighten its monetary policy, albeit moderately, to manage
inflation expectations, tighten monetary conditions and reduce the negative
real interest rates.
“Our base expectation is for a 100 basis points increase in
the MPR whilst holding other parameters constant.”
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures the rate of
change in prices of goods and commodities further increased to 33.69 percent in
April compared to 33.20 percent in the preceding month, the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) disclosed during the week.
Year-on-year, the headline index stood at 33.69 percent
compared to 22.22 percent recorded in April 2023. According to the CPI report
for the month the food index stood at 40.53 percent, year-on-year, representing
15.92 percent increase compared to 24.61 percent in April last year.
Core inflation, including energy prices rose by 6.87
percent, year-on-year to 26.84 percent in the review period compared to 19.96
percent in April 2023.
On annualised basis, the rise in food inflation was attributed to increases in prices of millet flour, garri, bread, wheat flour prepacked, semovita (which are under bread and cereals class), yam tuber, water yam, cocoyam (under potatoes, yam and other tubers class). -Nume Ekeghe.