Egypt’s central bank has received 900 million dollars from the China Development Bank under a one billion dollars financing agreement signed last month, Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer said.

The 900 million dollars will raise Egypt’s dollar reserves to around 17.4 billion dollars, Amer said on Monday.

Egypt, which relies heavily on imports, has been facing foreign exchange crisis since a popular uprising in 2011 which drove away tourists and investors, both major sources of hard currency.

Reserves held at the central bank tumbled to around 16.48 billion dollars in January from around 36 billion dollars before the uprising.

Investment and aid deals worth billions of dollars were signed on Jan. 21 during a visit to Egypt by China’s President XI Jinping.
(Reuters/NAN)