Egypt keeps custom dollar at LE 16 for essential commodities in July

CAIRO – 1 July 2019: Egypt kept the custom dollar at its current rate of LE 16 for $1 in the month of July for essential and strategic commodities, Minister of Finance Mohamed Ma’it said in a statement.

The minister said that the custom dollar rotates around 90 percent of the prevailing dollar price in the banking market.

The custom dollar for non-essential products will be at LE 16.8648.

By the end of November, Ma’it announced raising the custom dollar to LE 18 for non-essential products to meet the exchange rate of foreign currency at banks, including cars, some kinds of shoes, furniture and cigarettes.

Ma’it said that the changes of the exchange rate and other economic factors affected some aspects of the Egyptian economy negatively, so the ministry had to take actions to protect employment and job opportunities.

The government targets to provide job opportunities as the employment can be affected by any change that happens in the society, the minister clarified.

The Egyptian pound has remained relatively stable during morning transactions at major banks on Tuesday, trading at around LE 17.26 for buying and LE 17.38 for selling.

The custom dollar is the price by which the proportion of customs duties and taxes on imports of goods from abroad are calculated.

Egypt started setting a monthly fixed customs exchange rate in January 2017 after the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016, which was followed by an increase of 80-100 percent in the value of the custom dollar.