Egypt released imports worth $1.2 billion last week – PM

Egypt has released shipments of about $1.2 billion from 24 to 30 December, as part to resolve the imports backlog in order to keep the country’s production processes functioning at full capacity, said Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly’s on Saturday.

Madbouly’s remarks had made at Alexandria’s port, where he alongside cabinet members followed up on customs clearance of commodities and goods.

The government gives the releases’ priority to food commodities and manufacturing components, medicines, petroleum materials and fuels, and all production requirements for strategic commodities, Madbouly stressed.

The statement elaborated the released amount included $686 million of production inputs, $195 million of food products, $189 million of forage, $35 million of medicines and medical supplies and $16 million worth of chemical substances.

The volume of goods that will be released from the ports will be announced on a weekly basis within the framework of directives issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Amid the port clearance efforts, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Thursday the cancellation of the use of Letters of Credit (LCs) for imports, which was mandated since March.

Noteworthy, that vast quantities of goods, including production inputs, have been accumulating at Egyptian ports amid a shortage in foreign currency due to economic shocks caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

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