Egypt has released more than $30 bln goods from ports in 5 months: Finance minister

Egypt has released $31.8 billion worth of goods from customs between January and May 2023 as the government moves forward with policies to end backlogs of imported commodities at ports, according to Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait.

Maait released this data in a brief presentation during President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s inauguration of the Tahya Misr Multipurpose Maritime terminal in Alexandria on Thursday.

The total value of released goods from January-May 2023 is 15.65 percent lower compared to the $37.7 billion recorded in the same period last year.

In May, Egypt released $7.3 billion worth of goods from ports, including goods valued at $ 5.3 billion that arrived during the month.

Still, $5.5 billion worth of goods awaits release in ports, whose value is slightly lower than the $5.8 billion figure recorded in April 2023 but markedly lower than the $7.3 billion figure in May 2022.

Last year, Egypt struggled to release goods from ports as importers faced difficulties fulfilling the conditions set by the letters of credit mandated system amid shortages of US dollars in the market.

The government’s scrapping of the letter of credit mandate facilitated a smoother release of billions of dollars worth of goods from customs in ports.

However, persistent foreign currency deficits have impeded the prompt release of imports from ports to end backlogs.