{"id":549230,"date":"2022-09-08T04:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T04:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/09\/08\/this-morning-customs-exchange-rate-hiked-egypt-icf-enters-its-second-day\/"},"modified":"2022-09-08T04:00:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T04:00:40","slug":"this-morning-customs-exchange-rate-hiked-egypt-icf-enters-its-second-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/09\/08\/this-morning-customs-exchange-rate-hiked-egypt-icf-enters-its-second-day\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Customs exchange rate hiked + Egypt-ICF enters its second day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and happy Thursday. <\/strong>We hope you\u2019re looking forward to the first weekend of the post-Sahel season. (Unless you\u2019re headed north to get in one last visit to the beach and close up your place, in which case we wish you a safe drive). If the weather in the capital city this week has been anything to go by, we\u2019re in for a glorious two days off.<\/p>\n

The week is ending on an exceptionally busy note<\/strong>, with not one, but two, BIG STORIES HERE AT HOME:<\/p>\n

BIG STORY #1- Climate<\/strong>, after EBRD said it could provide as much as USD 1.3 bn in funding for clean energy projects. EBRD boss Odile Renaud-Basso made the announcement in Cairo yesterday.<\/p>\n

(Speaking of Renaud-Basso: She wasn\u2019t in town to talk about \"??\". <\/strong>When we said in yesterday\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/a> that she was here to \u201ctalk turkey\u201d on climate, we meant it in the colloquial sense<\/a> \u2014 straightforward and clear talks \u2014 and not that she had anything to say about Turkey, the country.)<\/p>\n

BIG STORY #2 cuts across lines: <\/strong>It\u2019s about love from the UAE, our booming financial services industry, and yet another M&A as Seif Fikry\u2019s Chimera eyes the acquisition of a big stake in GB Auto\u2019s leasing arm.<\/p>\n

^^ We have more on these stories and more in this morning\u2019s news well and Last Night\u2019s Talk Shows, below.<\/p>\n

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*** It\u2019s your last day to tell us how you\u2019re feeling about your business<\/strong> and the wider economy. We\u2019ll have the results for mid-month \u2014 just in time to give you a sense of what everyone else is thinking heading into budget season. Make your voice heard in our Fall Reader Survey.<\/a><\/strong> It won\u2019t take more than a few minutes to complete.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> MORE PAIN for importers as customs exchange rate raised to record high:<\/strong> The Customs Authority has raised the USD customs exchange rate to EGP 19.31 from EGP 18.65 in June<\/a>, effective today, it said<\/a> early this morning.<\/p>\n

EGP WATCH- <\/strong>This brings the customs USD in line with the official exchange rate, which saw the EGP slip to 19.31 against the greenback yesterday from 19.29. The currency has now fallen 22.4% since the devaluation in March.<\/p>\n

The customs rate was fixed back in March:<\/strong> The government re-introduced<\/a> the monthly customs exchange rate in March after the central bank allowed the EGP to fall 16% against the greenback. The rate was set at EGP 16.00 for imports of basic commodities and materials used for manufacturing.<\/p>\n

The hike will put more pressure on importers<\/strong> already struggling with high inflation and import restrictions that require them to use costly letters of credit (L\/Cs) to get goods into the country, industry figures told Al Masry Al Youm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Economists remain divided on how they expect policymakers to move ahead with a <\/strong>devaluation.<\/strong> Per Reuters<\/a>:<\/p>\n