CBE approves procedures facilitating import/export transactions
These procedures were discussed during a meeting held on Monday with the principals of external trade and liabilities of major banks and chaired by the CBE’s sub-governor Gamal Negm.
The CBE has not yet officially announced these procedures.
According to an internal local bank circular seen by Ahram Online, the procedures include accepting the firms’ deposits in hard currencies that are yielded from export transactions with companies from Syria, Sudan, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq and Libya.
The CBE will also allow the companies to use these sums in import transactions under the condition that the deposits’ total value is appropriate to the size and type of the company’s business activity.
In addition, the CBE will oblige banks to revert to it in case the foreign-exchange deposit transactions are made with companies from countries other than the ones named.
The procedures also include allowing local banks to use the foreign-exchange balances of the mother companies that are yielded from import transactions provided they are sold to local banks. In this case, the CBE will allow local banks to resell these balances through 19 September without applying buy and sell margins.
Meanwhile, the CBE instructed banks to follow Decree 126/2022 issued by the minister of trade and industry that allows the release of imported items for personal use under the condition that their value does not surpass $25,000 once per six months.
If the value exceeds this limit, the importers must pay the entire value of the imported items in advance.
Moreover, the CBE will exclude foreign inputs that are included in locally assembled electronic appliances from the measures set by its decree no.49 issued on 13 February 2022.
In February, the CBE issued new rules obliging all importers to use letters of credit (LCs) to finance their imports, eliminating the earlier collections system that was in force for many years. It excluded foreign companies and subsidiaries from the rules.