Importers Chamber: Raising Customs Dollar Rate Will Not Address Decline in Sudanese Pound

Khartoum – Sudanhorizon

The National Importers Chamber called for the customs dollar rate to be maintained at its current level and warned against increasing it, cautioning that repeated hikes would have negative consequences that ultimately fall on consumers. The chamber said that “importers pass any increase in customs duties on to the price of goods because they are indirect taxes ultimately borne by citizens.”

Chairman of the National Importers Chamber, Al-Sadiq Jalal Al-Din Saleh, stressed that continued increases in the customs dollar rate would not address the depreciation of the Sudanese pound. Instead, they would raise the cost of goods, leading to higher prices and, consequently, increased inflation, which would further negatively affect the value of the Sudanese pound. He noted that it was unfair to make citizens bear the burden of the pound’s depreciation, which he attributed to poor government performance.

In an exclusive statement to Sudanhorizon, Al-Sadiq Jalal Al-Din explained that price increases resulting from higher customs dollar rates are blamed on importers as “commercial greed,” despite being the result of accumulated official fees and taxes.

Jalal Al-Din warned that increasing the financial burden on official import activity would produce adverse effects on public revenues by contributing to contraction and stagnation, while increasing smuggling and unofficial imports as a result of misguided government procedures and decisions. This, he said, would deprive the public treasury of customs revenues and weaken oversight of markets increasingly flooded with poorly manufactured smuggled goods.

He stressed the importance of implementing structural measures to stabilize the exchange rate by broadening the tax base and supporting legitimate commercial activity, rather than relying on the easier solution of repeatedly increasing the customs dollar rate, which experience has shown to be ineffective in achieving economic stability.

On Saturday, Sudanese customs authorities announced an increase in the customs dollar rate from SDG 3,960.24 to SDG 4,346.65, representing an increase of 8.89%.

The customs dollar is the exchange rate used to calculate customs duties on imports from abroad, which are then paid in Sudanese pounds. The rate is fixed and determined by the government through the relevant institutions.

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