Egypt’s ministry of finance said that the customs price of the dollar was fixed at LE16 starting June 1 and ending June 30 for imported commodities 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.
Member of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) Ahmed Sheha explained that the customs price of the dollar was still lower than the price of the US Dollar in the Egyptian stock market, which ranges between LE16.73 for purchase and LE16.83 for sale.
Sheha clarified that identification of the price of the customs dollar is linked to the pricing processes for shipments at the time of the customs clearance.
He asserted that businessmen and importers would be able to exchange the dollar and open Letters of Credit (L/Cs) for imports as the banks had dollar surpluses due to increasing sources of foreign currencies and shrinkage of import process.
The Economic Adviser to the Investors Union Moatasem Rashid said that the low customs price of the dollar would foster the increase of imports and asserted that the government will have to monitor importing commodities and ensure there are no similar commodities produced by Egyptian factories.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
