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Egypt Government Moves to Control Currency Exchange Rate

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a press conference at Alexandria port. (Egyptian government)
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a press conference at Alexandria port. (Egyptian government)
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Egypt Government Moves to Control Currency Exchange Rate

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a press conference at Alexandria port. (Egyptian government)
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a press conference at Alexandria port. (Egyptian government)

The Egyptian government pledged to “control the market,” stressing that the US dollar crisis is on its way to being resolved. 

It has also sought to crack down on currency dealers in the “black market.” 

The value of the Egyptian pound declined against the US dollar following the Central Bank’s decision in October to move to a flexible exchange rate, describing it as one of the conditions for obtaining an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.  

Cairo received the first tranche of the IMF loan in December, which led to a wave of “high prices.”  

Government spokesman Nader Saad confirmed in televised statements that the US dollar crisis is on its way to being solved, adding that there are commodities worth $8.5 billion in the ports and that the coming period would witness the release of items worth $3.4 billion. 

“The past period witnessed a significant breakthrough in the release of goods from the ports, which had a positive impact and increased supply in the markets,” he explained. 

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly vowed in a press statement on Saturday to release the goods in the ports, according to a plan that includes paying suppliers’ arrears gradually.  

The recent period witnessed a discrepancy in the exchange rate of the dollar, as its value in the official market amounted to EGP24.6, while its value in the unofficial market rose to about EGP38 before it fell to about EGP28 in recent days, with the government taking measures regarding the “black market.”  

The Ministry of Interior arrested two persons who tried to smuggle foreign currency through Cairo Airport, in violation of Egyptian monetary law, according to an official statement.  

The security services also arrested three persons for their illegal trade in foreign exchange via Facebook. 

The government’s media center highlighted in a press statement the state’s effort over the past eight years in establishing a comprehensive social protection system, asserting that it remains a top priority.  

It noted the social safety net program, Takaful and Karama, for cash transfers, saying it is among the most significant investments in human capital development. It also said the Decent Life initiative contributed to improving the living conditions of rural communities.  

The media center indicated that total support, grants, and social benefits increased by 50.2 percent after it reached EGP343.4 billion in 2021/2022, compared to EGP228.6 billion in 2013/2014.  

The value of cash support increased to EGP20 billion after implementing the Takaful and Karama programs, compared to EGP5 billion in 2013/2014.  

Food subsidies increased to EGP96.8 billion in 2021/2022, compared to EGP35.5 billion in 2013/2014, and minimum wages rose to EGP3,000 pounds in 2022 from EGP1,200 in 2014. 

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Arab World

War crimes committed in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN report

Remnants of a shell that targeted the refugee center, in El Fasher, Sudan, October 7, 2025. REUTERS/Mohyaldeen M Abdallah
Remnants of a shell that targeted the refugee center, in El Fasher, Sudan, October 7, 2025. REUTERS/Mohyaldeen M Abdallah
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War crimes committed in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN report

Remnants of a shell that targeted the refugee center, in El Fasher, Sudan, October 7, 2025. REUTERS/Mohyaldeen M Abdallah
Remnants of a shell that targeted the refugee center, in El Fasher, Sudan, October 7, 2025. REUTERS/Mohyaldeen M Abdallah

The UN rights office on Friday accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the capture of El-Fasher, saying some 6,000 were killed in just three days.

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan's army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and triggered what the UN calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

During its final offensive in October, the RSF unleashed "a wave of intense violence... shocking in its scale and brutality" and amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, said a report from the UN Human Rights Office, AFP reported.

The report said the RSF and allied Arab militia carried out widespread attacks, including mass killings and summary executions, sexual violence, abductions for ransom, torture and ill-treatment, detention, disappearances, pillage and the use of children in hostilities.

In many cases, these were directed against civilians and people outside combat based on their ethnicity or perceived affiliation, it said.

Based on interviews with over 140 victims and witnesses conducted in Sudan and eastern Chad in late 2025, the Human Rights Office said it documented more than 6,000 killings in the first three days of the RSF offensive.

It said that of those, at least 4,400 people were killed within El-Fasher and over 1,600 others were killed as they fled along exit routes.

"The actual scale of the death toll during the week-long offensive is undoubtedly significantly higher," the office said.

The report voiced serious concerns over the fate of thousands of missing people.

"The unprecedented scale and brutality of the violence meted out during the offensive deeply compounded the horrific violations the residents of El-Fasher had already been subjected to during the long months of siege, constant hostilities and bombardment," said UN rights chief Volker Turk.

He said persistent impunity was fuelling the violence.

"There must be credible and impartial investigations to establish criminal responsibility, including of commanders and other superiors," Turk said.

"These must lead to meaningful accountability for perpetrators of exceptionally serious crimes, through all available means."

Arab World

US Military Completes Transfer of 5,700 ISIS Detainees from Syria to Iraq

US military vehicles move ahead of buses transporting ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Qamishli, Syria. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
US military vehicles move ahead of buses transporting ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Qamishli, Syria. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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US Military Completes Transfer of 5,700 ISIS Detainees from Syria to Iraq

US military vehicles move ahead of buses transporting ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Qamishli, Syria. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
US military vehicles move ahead of buses transporting ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Qamishli, Syria. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

The US military has completed the transfer of thousands of ISIS group detainees from Syria to Iraq, where they are expected to stand trial in the future, the US Central Command said Friday. 

CENTCOM said that the transfer that began on Jan. 21 saw US forces transporting more than 5,700 adult male ISIS suspects from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody. 

The prisoners were transferred to Iraq at the request of Baghdad — a move welcomed by the US-led coalition that had for years fought against ISIS. 

“We appreciate Iraq’s leadership and recognition that transferring the detainees is essential to regional security,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. 

Iraq's National Center for International Judicial Cooperation said a total of 5,704 suspects from 61 countries who were affiliated with ISIS were transferred from prisons in Syria. 

The Center said most of the suspects were Syrian or Iraqi, though there were other foreign nationals from Europe as well as Australia, Canada and the United States, among other countries. 

Over the past three weeks, the US military escorted the detainees from prisons in northeastern Syria run by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to Baghdad. 

The transfers have helped calm fears that the recent rounds of fighting in Syria between government forces and the SDF would allow the ISIS prisoners to flee from detention camps there and join militant sleeper cells that are still carrying out attacks in both Iraq and Syria. 

Iraq is looking to put on trial some of the thousands of the ISIS detainees who were held for years in Syria without charges or access to the judicial system. 

When ISIS declared a self-proclaimed territory in large parts of Syria and Iraq that the militant group seized in 2014, it attracted extremists from around the world. 

From the caliphate, the extremists plotted attacks around the world that left hundreds dead from Europe to Arab countries and Asia. 

“The successful execution of this orderly and secure transfer operation will help prevent an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” said US Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Lambert, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, that led the mission planning, coordination, and execution. 

Iraq is in talks with other countries including Arab and Muslim states to repatriate ISIS prisoners, its foreign minister said. 

Speaking in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Fuad Hussein said Baghdad would need financial aid to deal with the influx and was worried about a rise in ISIS activity just over the border in Syria. 

Arab World

Floods Wreak Havoc in Morocco Farmlands after Severe Drought

Farmers in the North African kingdom have for the past few years endured severe drought © - / AFP
Farmers in the North African kingdom have for the past few years endured severe drought © - / AFP
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Floods Wreak Havoc in Morocco Farmlands after Severe Drought

Farmers in the North African kingdom have for the past few years endured severe drought © - / AFP
Farmers in the North African kingdom have for the past few years endured severe drought © - / AFP

In the Moroccan village of Ouled Salama, 63-year-old farmer Mohamed Reouani waded through his crops, now submerged by floodwaters after days of heavy downpours.

Farmers in the North African kingdom have for the past few years endured severe drought.

But floods have now swamped more than 100,000 hectares of land, wiping out key crops and forcing farmers in the country's northwest to flee with their livestock, AFP reported.

"I have about four or five hectares" of crops, Reouani said. "All of it is gone now."

"Still, praise be to God for this blessing," he added while looking around at the water.

Morocco, where agriculture employs about a third of the working-age population, has seen seven consecutive years of drought.

As of December, its dams were only around 30 percent full on average, and farmers have largely relied on rainwater for irrigation.

Now their average filling rate stands at nearly 70 percent after they received about 8.8 billion cubic metres of water in the last month -- compared to just 9 billion over the previous two years combined.

- 'Took everything' -

Many like Reouani had at first rejoiced at the downpours.

But the rain eventually swelled into a heavy storm that displaced over 180,000 people as of Wednesday and killed four so far.

In his village, the water level climbed nearly two metres, Reouani said. Some homes still stand isolated by floodwater.

Elsewhere, residents were seen stranded on rooftops before being rescued in small boats.

Others were taken away by helicopter as roads were cut off by flooding.

Authorities have set up camps of small tents, including near the city of Kenitra, to shelter evacuees and their livestock.

"We have no grain left" to feed the animals, one evacuee, Ibrahim Bernous, 32, told AFP at a camp. "The water took everything."

Bernous, like many, now depends on animal feed distributed by the authorities, according to Mustapha Ait Bella, an official at the agriculture ministry.

At the camps, displaced families make do with little while waiting to return home.

"The problem is what happens after we return," said Chergui al-Alja, 42. "We have no grain left to feed our livestock, and they are our main source of income."

- Five percent growth -

On Thursday, the government announced a relief plan of some $330 million to provide aid to the hardest-hit regions.

A tenth of that sum was earmarked for farmers and livestock breeders.

Rachid Benali, head of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development, told AFP farming was "among the sectors most affected by the floods".

But he said "a more accurate damage assessment was pending once waters recede".

Benali added that sugar beet, citrus and vegetable farms had also been devastated by flooding.

Agriculture accounts for about 12 percent of Morocco's overall economy.

The International Monetary Fund anticipates that the massive rainfall will help the economy grow by nearly five percent.

Authorities are betting on expanded irrigation and seawater desalination to help the sector withstand increasingly volatile climate swings.

While Morocco is no stranger to extreme weather events, scientists say climate change driven by human activity has made phenomena like droughts and floods more frequent and intense.

Last December, flash floods killed 37 people in Safi, in Morocco's deadliest weather-related disaster in the past decade.

Neighbouring Algeria and Tunisia have also experienced severe weather and deadly flooding in recent weeks.

Further north, Portugal and Spain have faced fresh storms and torrential rain.