African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) have signed a $500m financing agreement aimed at maintaining the flow of strategic commodities into Egypt.

Under the terms of the deal, Afreximbank will provide funds to Egyptian importers that are approved by the CBE, the lender said in a statement.

Afreximbank’s president, Benedict Oramah, said the bank is “determined to support the efforts of the Egyptian authorities to address foreign currency liquidity challenges… in order to reciprocate the strong support it has enjoyed from Egypt.”

Earlier this month, the CBE announced it has raised the cap on dollar deposits at banks to $1m a month, or its equivalent in other foreign currencies, with no limit on the daily deposit.

The new deposit cap will be applied with several conditions including the “compatibility between import requests and the size of deposits”, according to a statement.

Daily deposit limits were introduced in February 2015 to curb the growing black market for foreign exchange, which local businesses turned to when they were unable to access dollars through the banking system.

Egypt has been struggling with what has been described as a foreign currency crisis; in early February, reports came out of Cairo that General Motors Egypt had halted its operations amid rising costs and limited access to dollar supplies. GM Egypt has since resumed its operations, although other industries have continued to voice concerns over the country’s supply of dollars.