Foreign currency rules may change at any time.
To protect national or regional interests, central banks, governments, and national customs agencies may act to impose rules on the transport or exchange of foreign currency.
Transporting Currency
When transporting foreign currency across borders, there are limits as to how much foreign currency you may bring into or take out of each country, or how much you are allowed without having to officially declare the currency to customs officials as an import or export.
In the United States you may bring in or take out up to $10,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency without the need to declare it to U.S. customs officials. In the United Kingdom amounts above 10,000 euros must be declared, with the exception of travel to or from another European Union country. In Egypt you may bring in up to $10,000 or equivalent in foreign currency without the need to declare it; however, you may only bring in or take out of the country up to 5,000 Egyptian pounds, as the Egyptian pound is a non-convertible currency.
Before transporting currency across borders, be sure to check with your government's foreign affairs bureau regarding the specific currency limits and rules regarding the currencies you are interested in transporting.
Non-Convertible Currencies
Major currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the European Union euro, and the Japanese yen are openly traded on the currency market and are used around the world for a variety of private and public transactions. Other currencies called non-convertible currencies, however, are heavily restricted and reserved primarily for domestic use in a particular country; government restrictions prevent them from being openly traded for foreign currencies.
Non-convertible currencies include the the Algerian dinar, the Bosnia and Herzgovina mark, the Cuban peso, the Panama balboa, the Pakistan rupie, and the Uganda shilling. Check with the United States Department of State, United Kingdom's Foreign Office, or other reputable source regarding currency use by tourists in these countries. In Cuba, for example, there are two currencies: the local population uses the Cuban peso while tourists are required to use the Cuban convertible peso instead.
Restricted Currencies
In times of economic distress, central banks may restrict currency transactions or impose additional rules in order to prevent capital flight or other potential economic stressors. For example, South Korea increased its foreign exchange transaction rules to try to stabilize the won's value while Sudan restricted that country's foreign exchange to only take place at the airport in order to prevent currency shortages in Sudan.
