The economy defends the import supply and responds to the objections of traders
Assistant Minister of Economy Bassam Haidar responded to the objections of traders on the decision of import subsidies, stressing that the decision guarantees the solvency and seriousness of the trader for import and limits tax evasion.It does not include donating anything.It also does not impose taxes on the deposited amount and ultimately belongs to the trader.
He added, "The decision targets all importers, and applies to all imported materials, knowing that we do not want to raise the price of any commodity," and that "most of the world lays the foundations for import and regulation of supplies, and there are countries requesting deposits 100% and supplies 15%."
The Deputy Minister of Economy that "the decision limits the use of the merchant for more than one commercial register, and thus reduce tax evasion, in addition to it enhances dealing with the banking sector and the demand for the Syrian pound."
On the decision to deposit 10% of the value of the leave in the lira support fund, Haider noted that the initiative was put forward by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry has been adopted and proved some positive, but it is not a decision of the Ministry, stressing the absence of data to prove that it negatively affected the exchange rate.
He pointed out that if "we took supplies in 2016 was given to the trader foreign exchange and the decision was taken for seven months and was canceled for objective reasons, such as fluctuation of the exchange rate and the war imposed on the country, knowing that the benefit was the stability of commodity prices in the market."
He continued that "all decisions are debatable, but so far there is no harm, and all this is revealed after the experience," stressing the need not to rush and exaggerate the judgment on the new resolution, before knowing its negative or positive reflection.
A few days ago, Minister of Economy Samer al-Khalil issued a resolution (944), which requires importers to have deposits of up to 40% of the value of the license, after the cessation of the supply decision since 2016.
The 40% is divided by 25% of the value of the import license and is frozen for a month and then released whether or not the import is made, and 15% as an import deposit in Syrian pounds which is not subject to interest and is subject to import.
Traders criticized the decision after the issuance, said a member of the "People's Assembly" and a member of the "Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce," Firas Salloum, "traders have become a field of experience for the crew of the economy working for the government."
The parliamentarian said that the recent provision will harm 80% of traders because they are unable to secure these amounts, adding, "We as traders feel that there is a decision by the government to employ a small number of traders in the country and this hurts the national economy."
The exchange rate of the dollar against the lira in the parallel market has been fluctuating since the beginning of the year, until it reached its peak a few days ago, exceeding the barrier of 800 pounds to the dollar, while remaining stable in the official bulletin at 435 pounds to buy, and 438 pounds to sell for a long time.
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