EgyptTL;DR: For employees, no: statutory salary in Egypt is paid in Egyptian pounds, to an Egyptian bank account. For contractors, yes: they can invoice you in USD and keep the money in dollars. On Shor, contractors hold their earnings in USD and withdraw to pounds when they choose, with a flat disclosed 2% FX applied only when money actually converts, for $19/month per contractor.
Egypt is one of the largest talent markets in the Middle East and North Africa, and anyone who worked there through 2023 and 2024 watched their salary's dollar value get cut roughly in half. Inflation has since cooled substantially, but the memory is fresh, and it shapes how Egyptian professionals think about their rate. Here's what's allowed, and how to set it up.
The short answer
It depends entirely on one thing: is this person an employee or a contractor?
Employees: no. Egyptian statutory salary is paid in Egyptian pounds (EGP) to an Egyptian bank account, on a monthly payroll. Our compliance data on Egypt is thinner than for our core markets, so treat pound payroll as the default and put anything beyond it in front of Egyptian counsel first.
Contractors: yes. An independent contractor invoices you as a business. That invoice can be denominated in USD, and how the contractor holds or converts the money afterward is their decision. In Egypt, after the last few years, many choose dollars.
One warning before anything else: the classification has to be real. Reclassifying someone who works like an employee as a contractor so you can pay them in dollars trades a currency problem for a much more expensive legal one.
Why USD pay matters in Egypt
The honest version of the Egypt story is a depreciation story, not an ongoing inflation crisis.
Urban inflation peaked at 38.0% in September 2023, a record high. Then in March 2024, as part of an IMF-backed reform package, Egypt let the pound float and it fell from around 31 to around 50 per dollar, losing more than a third of its value in a day. That was the third major devaluation in under a decade.
Since then the picture has genuinely improved. The Central Bank of Egypt reports urban headline inflation of 14.3% for June 2026, down from 14.6% in May, and Bloomberg notes it has eased for three straight months. That's real progress, and it deserves to be stated plainly.
But 14% inflation still erodes a pound salary meaningfully within a year, and more importantly, Egyptian professionals have now lived through repeated step-change devaluations where savings lost a third of their dollar value overnight. Trust in a currency rebuilds over years, not quarters. A USD-denominated rate holds its purchasing power through both the slow erosion and the sudden steps, while the contractor decides when to convert. That's a stability point, not an investment strategy.
For you as the employer, the flip side is cost predictability: a USD rate means your books see the same number every month, instead of catch-up conversations that are really inflation adjustments.
Paying employees in Egypt: what the law requires
If you hire an Egyptian employee (directly or through an employer of record), salary is paid in Egyptian pounds to an Egyptian bank account, with registered payroll and social contributions, on a monthly cycle. If someone proposes a dollar-denominated salary structure for an Egyptian employee, have an Egyptian employment lawyer look at your specific case before you rely on it. We are not that lawyer, and this page is not legal advice.
What compliant employers actually do instead:
- Pay salary in pounds, index reviews to the dollar. Set an expectation that compensation is reviewed against a USD reference on a fixed schedule. Egyptian employers who lived through 2024 understand exactly why candidates ask for this.
- Keep the adjustment cadence honest. At mid-teens inflation, an annual review still leaves a real-terms gap by the back half of the year. Semi-annual is a more honest cadence, and after any sharp move in the pound, revisit sooner.
This keeps you inside the law while addressing the thing the employee actually cares about: their purchasing power.
Paying contractors in Egypt in USD
For genuine contractors, USD pay is straightforward, and it's where most US companies hiring Egyptian talent land. On Shor it works like this:
- Contractors invoice in USD or pounds, their choice. Contracts, W-8BEN collection, and invoicing are built in.
- The money stays in USD. No forced conversion on arrival. Most platforms convert a "USD payment" to pounds the moment it lands, which protects the contractor for exactly zero days. Holding is the feature.
- They withdraw to pounds when they choose, over local rails. This month's expenses in pounds today, the rest staying in dollars until they need it.
- Conversion costs a flat disclosed 2%, shown before the money moves, and only when money actually converts.
- For you: $19/month per contractor. No setup fees, month-to-month.
The deeper version of the employer case (retention, cost predictability, why holding matters more than denomination) is in our guide to paying international contractors in USD.
FAQ
Can I pay employees in Egypt in USD? No. Statutory salary is paid in Egyptian pounds to an Egyptian bank account, with registered payroll. The compliant alternative is pound salary with USD-referenced compensation reviews on an honest cadence. Anything beyond that needs Egyptian counsel.
Can I pay contractors in Egypt in USD? Yes. Independent contractors can invoice a foreign client in USD, and after the pound's repeated devaluations many prefer to. On Shor they invoice in USD, keep the money in dollars, and withdraw to pounds when they choose.
Do Egyptian contractors have to convert to pounds as soon as they're paid? Not on Shor. There is no forced conversion on arrival; the contractor holds their balance in USD and converts on their own timing, at a flat disclosed 2% shown before the money moves.
Does paying an Egyptian contractor in USD cost me more? No. It's the same $19/month per contractor, and the 2% FX applies only when the contractor converts to pounds, which is their choice and effectively their side of the transaction.