The rise in the price of the customs dollar against the exchange rate in Egypt has raised many concerns across many social media platforms.
The customs dollar is the price that the Ministry of Finance sets for the dollar against the pound on a monthly basis, and uses it to determine the value of goods that are imported from abroad and the value of customs duties imposed on them.
Egyptians expressed their fears and expectations of an increase in the prices of imported goods in the coming days, following the government's announcement, yesterday, Wednesday, to raise the customs dollar price to exceed, for the first time, the exchange rate of the dollar in banks.
Yesterday, Wednesday, the Egyptian Customs Authority announced an increase in the price of the customs dollar to 18.64 pounds in June, compared to 17 pounds to the dollar last May.
It is a strange and surprising paradox that the customs dollar rate is higher than the normal dollar, but I see it from a different perspective, which is that the full flotation of the pound is around the corner.
— 𝔼𝕩𝕔
Finance decides to raise the price of the customs dollar.. The head of the Tax and Customs Committee in the Federation of Industries, Muhammad Al-Bahi, explains the details of this decision to # evening_dmc pic.twitter.com/sZ3LFtFf92
— dmctv (@dmctv) June 1, 2022
Tweeters said that the state tended to raise the price of the customs dollar so that it would not bear the loss of stabilizing the dollar's price, and that this means an imminent new float during the coming months.
Activists warned of a new wave of inflation that will follow the previous waves, adding to the economic burdens and concerns of the Egyptian citizen, especially with regard to electrical appliances and imported goods.
The price of the customs dollar rose 2.64 pounds and scored 18.64.. This means a new wave of high prices for imported goods
— Abdel Abdel Qader Saeed (@abdelkadr_saeid) June 1, 2022
Media professionals said that raising the price of the customs dollar would cause car prices to rise significantly, in addition to an increase in food prices.
The Importers Division said that the expected increase in commodity prices is 10% due to the increase in the price of the customs dollar.
In volatile trading today, Thursday, the Egyptian pound fell to 18.63 against the US dollar, down by 0.2%.
The value of the Egyptian pound fell by more than 14% last March, after weeks of pressure on the currency, with foreign investors withdrawing billions of dollars from the Egyptian bond market after Russia's war on Ukraine.