Page 40 - Egypt & the Eternal Nile by Private, Classic River-Yacht

MONEY MATTERS

Top Three Tips
• Carry a mix of different types of payments, such as U.S. dollars, local currency, an ATM
card, and a credit card.

• Traveler’s checks are not recommended. They are hard to exchange and not accepted
as payment.

• Bring a number of $1 and $5 bills. In many places in Egypt, you’ll be able to pay or tip in
U.S. dollars, but you’ll need small bills to make exact change.

Local Currency

For current exchange rates, please refer to an online converter tool like www.xe.com/
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Egypt

The monetary unit of Egypt is the Egyptian pound (LE), which is divided into 100 piastres
(pt). In Arabic, a pound is a guinay and piastres are qirsh or girsh. Banknote and coin
denominations are:

• Banknotes: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 pounds; plus 25 and 50 piastres

• Coins: 25 and 50 piastres; 1 pound

U.S dollars are widely accepted in Egypt, and many businesses prefer dollars. When paying in
dollars, you should use bills in good condition; although it doesn’t happen a lot, some places
will decline a bill that is dirty, torn, or has writing on it.
Local currency is generally more useful in situations that require small change or where
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places to exchange money. No matter what currency you’re using, having a number of small-
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lot of $1 bills for tipping or making exact change.

Israel
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agorot. Banknote and coin denominations are as follows:

• Banknotes: 20, 50, 100 and 200 shekels

• Coins: 10 and 50 agorot, and ½ (one half), 1, 2, 5, and 10 shekels

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