Following a slight drop on the exchange rate for duty payable on imported items, car dealers have predicted further reduction on duty payable on imported vehicles.
The Nigeria Customs Service last week announced further reduction in the exchange rate for import duty calculations from N306 per dollar to N303.
Currently, import duty on nimported used vehicles is 35%levy and 35%duty totalling 70%.
But speaking with Auto Port Weekly last week, a stakeholder; Mr. Franklin Achusim stated that the exchange rate may further crash.
The car dealer maintained that foreign exchange on imported items especially vehicle need to be considered by the government, because attention has been on importation through neighbouring ports within the sub sector region.
According to him, "Government has been ill-advised and that is why the economy is suffering".
"We need to boost importation of cars into the country through the ports to discourage smuggling and the best way out is to further reduce the exchange rate to N197",he added.
"However, I am very sure that before the end of the year it will get back to N197",the car dealer predicted.
Another car dealer; Okechukwu Nze lauded the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN),initiative to reduce the exchange rate, saying that it’s a welcome development.
Nze appealed to the federal government to listen to the masses in order to also encourage car importation to Nigeria.
He added that since the introduction of the policy, there has been less production of made -in -Nigeria vehicles, thus there is the need for government to encourage car importation.
Nze further argued that fairly-used vehicles are durable and cheaper than the new vehicles acclaimed to be manufactured in Nigeria.
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