The Ministry of Finance set the price of the customs dollar for June at LE18.64, as the Egyptian Customs Authority issued a circular, on Wednesday, with foreign currency rates throughout June.
The announced rates took effect starting Wednesday and were distributed to various ports across Egypt.
The decision to raise the customs dollar price will have direct consequences on the increase in the prices of some commodities in the market, and will be reflected in the continued rise in monthly inflation rates, Mohamed al-Bahy, head of the Tax and Customs Committee at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The economy is going through exceptional circumstances, and it would have been more useful to take into account the stability of prices in the markets, he added.
Food prices will witness more stability during the coming period, as a result of the decline in food commodity prices globally.
This is happening at the same time while a paralleled by a rise in the price of the customs dollar, therefore prices in the Egyptian market for local commodities will not be affected, Hazem al-Menoufy, member of the General Division of Foodstuffs in the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce in Egypt, and head of the Foodstuff, Grocery Supply and Herbal Medicine Division in the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, said.
The customs dollar rose by almost 20 percent without any justification, Matta Bishay, Head of the Internal Trade Committee of the Importers Division of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, said, explaining that the prices of goods will significantly increase in the coming period despite the already huge increases the markets witnessed in the past period without real justification.
Raising the custom dollar price will affect the prices of mobile devices, which are expected to rise by about 10 percent, Mohamed Talaat, head of the Communications and Mobile Division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, said.
Talaat added that about 97 percent of mobile devices are imported from abroad, and only 3 percent of consumption is manufactured locally.
He added that the supply of mobile phones in the local market had already decreased by up to 70 percent recently which resulted in an increase in prices due to short supply.
