CBE rules out drugs, food items from documentary credit operations

CAIRO - 16 February 2022: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) excluded imports of medicines, serums, relevant chemical substances, and some food commodities from a recent decision to stop all import transactions through collection documents and use documentary credits instead.

 

The CBE has also directed all banks to reduce their commission for opening documentary credits to be equal to the commission paid for collection documents, said the Federation of Egyptian Banks in a statement a copy of which was made available to MENA on Wednesday.

 

The food items include: tea, meat, chicken, fish, wheat, table oil, baby formula, powder milk, bean, lentils, butter, and maize.

 

The exclusion decision also applies to express mail shipments and shipments that are worth up to $5,000 or the equivalent of this amount in other currencies.