CAIRO: Egypt has no plans to raise customs on car spare parts, head of Egypt’s Customs Authority Magdy Abdel Aziz said at a Wednesday meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo.
Abdel Aziz denied all media reports speculating that spare car parts would be added to a list of luxury goods that the Egyptian government intends to raise their customs tariffs amid efforts to ease pressure on the country’s foreign reserves and to bolster competitiveness of home-made products.
“A technical committee has submitted a proposal to raise customs on some goods that have a local substitute, which will be looked into by the government,” he added.
The list will include candy, textiles, leather goods, clothes and furniture, he told The Cairo Post on the sidelines of the meeting.
Egypt’s net international reserves posted a moderate rebound from a three-month slip to hit $16.415 billion at October-end, marking an $80 million rise from $16.335 billion a month earlier, the central bank reported Wednesday.
The government is struggling to tackle a sharp decline in foreign reserves as tourism revenues and foreign direct investments tumbled over political turmoil following the January 25 Revolution in2011 which toppled Former Minister Hosni Mubarak, when they were valued at $35.8 billion.