BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.18
Trend:
An increase of customs entry fees by parliament's Budget Integration Commission would not have a considerable effect on the price of imported commodities since the prices have already been set based on free-market rate," said the Head of Iran's Import Supreme Council.
"The base of customs duties has increased to 175,000 rials per dollar and is expected to be implemented in new Iranian year (starts March 21, 2021), but it is possible that the USD rate would increase so the calculation for customs duties might change," said Alireza Monaghebi, Trend reported citing ILNA.
"It all depends on whether there are consumers for an imported commodity with increased price," he said.
The parliament's Budget Integration Commission has predicted an increase of customs duties to 175,000 rials per dollar in the new Iranian year budget plan.
"In conventional interaction of a competitive market, prices would be more balanced but any limitation could lead to economic rent that is not related to USD rate. There is a recession in the market, and the only transaction is limited to necessary goods. While production units should pay a certain price for importing basic material the recession in the market forces them to choose a low-quality and cheaper commodity," he added.
"It is unlikely that the finished price of the domestic commodity could compete with the international market. The consumer has low purchasing power and the price of necessary commodities is not based on official foreign currency rate of 42,000 rials per dollar," Monaghebi noted.
"Importers would not sell their commodities based on assigned official foreign currency rate but based on the free-market rate which is around 250,000 rial per dollar, therefore, an increase of customs duties would not affect the commodity price," he pointed out.