Egyptian Cabinet approved a new draft law allowing Egyptian expats and their families to have one personal-use vehicle imported to Egypt without paying customs duties or taxes, including the value-added tax (VAT).

This will make it easier and cheaper for expats to import new cars and will aid Egypt in raising foreign currency amid the ongoing FX shortage. Recent CBE figures show that Egyptian foreign reserves declined over the past few months.

If an Egyptian expat who has a valid foreign residency permit and foreign bank account pay a cash amount in foreign currency transferred from abroad to the bank accounts specified by the Ministry of Finance, they will get a full rebate on all the customs and taxes fees they paid.

The draft law states that the cash amount transferred in favor of the Ministry of Finance will be returned to the expat after five years from the date of payment at the value of the local currency at the time of withdrawal.

The exemptions under the new draft law will only be allowed for a four-month period starting from the day when the law comes into effect.