Importers are facing, among other difficulties, a lack of foreign currency and trouble opening letters of credit, said Chief of the General Division of Importers in the General Federation of the Chambers of Commerce Hamdy al-Naggar.
Naggar spoke of these issude during a meeting between the industry and supply ministers, as well as food commodities importers on Wednesday.
Many money exchange offices have reportedly resorted to transferring foreign currency abroad on behalf of importers to circumvent dollar deposit restrictions adopted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
In February 2015, the CBE decided to put a limit on dollar deposits, at a maximum of US$10,000 per day and $50,000 per month, for both individuals and corporations.
Finance Minister Hany Qadry Demian told the TV channel Al-Arabiya in mid-March that Egypt will offer dollar-denominated bonds between $1.5 billion and $2 billion by the end of the current fiscal year. These bonds will help fund projects without straining the national economy, said Demian. The Cabinet has already begun to look into the law of bonds as a source that will fill the financing gap in Egypt.
