Egypt’s Ministry of Finance has freed the customs exchange price of the dollar on all kinds of imports subject to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) dollar exchange rate. The rates will be determined on a daily basis rather than on a monthly basis according to the exchange rates announced by the Customs Authority, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The ministry clarified that the customs price of the dollar was fixed at LE16 starting June 1 to control prices of commodities in the Egyptian market after the prices witnessed huge increases following the devaluation of the Egyptian pound and fluctuation of the dollar exchange rates.
The ministry asserted that the customs exchange rates will be calculated for days off and holidays according to the CBE’s closing price of the exchange rates on the last working day prior to the holidays and days off.
An anonymous source in the Ministry of Finance said that the freeing of prices means “there will be no other dollar price for customs transactions other than the price announced by the CBE.”
The customs price of the dollar was LE16.6230 on Monday, up from LE16.6203 on Sunday, according to the dollar exchange rates announced by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Egypt fixed the customs price of the dollar for imported commodities at LE16 starting June 1, excluding non-essential commodities that the ministry listed as subject to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) dollar exchange rate of LE16.86 on May 30. The mentioned non-essential commodities include caviar, shrimp, lobster, ornamental fish, alcoholic beverages, pet food, cosmetics, tobacco products, flowers, domestic industry products, shoes, furniture, passenger cars, motorcycles and tuk tuks.
Edited translation form Al-Masry Al-Youm
