Global Courant 2023-05-11 14:27:30
The Egyptian cabinet officially approved the prime minister’s draft resolution to exempt imports of gold in semi-finished products from customs at its meeting on Wednesday.
The decree exempts gold artifacts intended for currency circulation, ornaments and jewelry brought with Egyptian travelers coming from abroad from customs and other charges – with the exception of value-added tax – for a period of six months.
According to the resolution, this exemption does not apply to natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, mounted or inlaid on jewelry and parts thereof.
The resolution aims to achieve stability of gold prices in the local market and to reduce customs smuggling attempts of finished and semi-finished gold products through various customs channels.
Finance Minister Mohamed Maatit previously stated that the decision to exempt Egyptians coming from abroad from gold customs will be taken by the end of this week.
He added that budget numbers for the next fiscal year reflect presidential directives to provide the utmost support to economic activity and social security, and realign government spending priorities to ensure fair distribution of the fruits of development. .
The Ministry of Supply proposed an initiative to exempt Egyptians coming to Egypt from fees when they buy gold from abroad.
Under the initiative, any Egyptian coming from abroad is exempt from fees imposed for between 100 and 150 grams of gold, equivalent to three 50-gram gold bars per bar.
The proposal, introduced by Supply and Internal Trade Minister Ali al-Moselhy, was due to a shortage of gold in the Egyptian market, the supply minister’s advisor for gold affairs Nagy Farag explained.
The proposal aims to find a mechanism to deliver gold supplies to the Egyptian market to stabilize prices, he added.
In televised statements, Faraq explained that prices in the market are rising between LE 100 and LE 150, which is problematic for industry workers and non-employees as well.
