The Health committee in the Egyptian Parliament will send a memo calling for exempting pharmaceutical producers from the VAT tax on the non-core production inputs, including packaging supporting ingredients (active ingredients are already exempted from VAT), as an initial move to support pharmaceutical companies amidst the hike in production costs post EGP floatation, according to sources speaking to Al Borsa. Also, the memo will ask the government to reduce government-related costs for producers (utility costs and custom tarrifs) to mitigate the negative impact of the floatation, the sources added. (Al Borsa)