Raw sugar imports have been exempted from customs duties until year’s end, according to a Cabinet decision published by the Official Gazette on Monday. The move, along with last week’s decision to impose a EGP 900 fee on sugar exports, is in keeping with the government’s attempts to keep prices low ahead of Ramadan. Local sugar producers slammed the decision as kowtowing to the importers, saying they would not be able to compete with low prices of imported sugar, Al Borsa reported. They feel that the move would flood an already saturated market in which local producers are already suffering a 30% spike in production costs.