The World Bank welcomed Friday Egyptian economic reforms, saying they would create jobs and promote social inclusion, one day after the country floated its currency, raised the prices of energy products, and increased food subsidies.

An Egyptian army brigadier general was shot dead Friday afternoon in El-Arish in North Sinai, a military spokesman said.

Egypt was elected for a five-year term in the 34-member International Law Commission of the UN General Assembly on Friday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Egyptian police arrested a number of people who confessed to “plotting terrorist attacks against security forces and government figures,” most notably the assassination of top prosecutor Hisham Barakat in June 2015, the interior ministry announced on Friday.

Egypt’s economic growth rate registered 4.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fiscal year 2015/16, down from 4.4 percent in the fiscal year before, the planning ministry said in an emailed statement to Ahram Online on Friday.

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Friday that the price of metro tickets is too low to continue normal operations.

EgyptAir will review the prices of its tickets next week in light of a decision by the Central Bank of Egypt to float the Egyptian pound on Thursday, Chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company Safwat Musallam said.

The USD exchange rate has reached 14.75 EGP for purchase against the Egyptian Pound, after it has been stable over the past weeks at 8.88 EGP.

Minister of Supply Mohamed Ali Moselhy announced Friday an increase in the value of the ration cards per capita to be 21 EGP instead of 18 EGP.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Friday that Egypt "did not have the luxury" of postponing urgent economic reforms, speaking a day after the country floated its currency and increased the prices of subsidised fuel.

Egypt has cancelled tariffs on imported sugar, the country's supply minister announced at a press conference on Friday where key ministers spoke about Thursday's decision to float the pound and cut fuel subsidies.

Egyptian Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy said Friday that having two exchange rates, an official rate and a rate on the parallel market, had hindered direct investment in the country, in statements justifying Thursday's flotation of the pound.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Thursday it would not impose restrictions on the exchange of foreign currencies.

President Abdel Fatah al Sisi will pay an official visit to Portugal soon, state news agency MENA reported, citing remarks from Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday.

Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs Tarek al Qouny met with U.S. Special Envoy for Libya Jonathan Winer in Cairo Thursday for talks on the latest developments in the oil-rich Arab state, Youm7 reported, citing a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Thursday that the CBE has received assurances from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), G7 countries, China and a number of Arab countries that they will provide aid to help plug the Egypt's funding gap.

Egypt's petroleum ministry announced late on Thursday new raises in the fuel subsidized prices that will come into effect as of Friday.

Egypt’s stocks hit their highest level in 17 months on Thursday after the central bank liberalised the exchange rate for the pound against foreign currencies, selling the US dollar to local banks at a tentative price of EGP 13.

The committee to review the cases of Egyptian youth detainees held a consultation session Wednesday to lay out its organisational procedures, a committee member told Ahram Online.

The International Monetary Fund said it welcomes Thursday's decision by Egypt's central bank to float the country's pound.

Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Essam Fayed will discuss Egyptian agriculture exports with a delegation from the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia on Thursday, Youm7 reported.