Cairo's headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of Finance (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Egypt will maintain the existing customs exchange rate for essential goods at EGP 16 per $1 until the end of January, the finance ministry, said, while increasing the rate for non-essential and luxury goods to EGP 17.9739 per $1.
In an official statement, the finance ministry said the customs dollar exchange rate for essential goods will remain unchanged.
The raised customs duty, which was approved in December, will apply until the end of January, with an average custom dollar exchange rate at EGP 17.9739 per $1.
In December Egypt sharply raised customs duties on hundreds of goods to encourage local production and curb a hiking trade deficit.
Egypt says increasing the customs dollar exchange rate will raise revenues from the value-added tax (VAT) by EGP 2.5 billion and will lead to an increase of EGP 6 billion in customs revenues, according to statements by the finance ministry last month.
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