The government approved a programme in November allowing Egyptian ex-pats to obtain cars for personal use in return for a five-year certificate of deposit (CD) purchased in foreign currency equal to the amount of the customs due on the vehicle that will be redeemed in Egyptian pounds at the exchange rate at that time.

In a statement published on the cabinet’s Facebook page, Maait added that 100,000 people had registered to benefit from the special scheme since it was launched on 15 November.

He said 800 imported cars had been released so far under the programme.

Maait reiterated that the deadline to benefit from the special programme is 14 May and that ex-pats who want to benefit from it must transfer before that date.

The minister also explained that whoever wants to withdraw from the programme would be reimbursed within three months, according to the exchange rate at that time.

The government hoped to attract $2.5 billion worth of foreign currency from this initiative to help with the hard currency crunch, but that target seems unlikely with less than a month until the initiative expires.