Cairo will not float the Egyptian pound until its foreign reserves with the central bank reach $25bn, according to sources at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The CBE’s governor had previously said a currency flotation would not happen until Egypt’s foreign reserves reached a “sufficient level”.

Egyptians have been waiting for a currency floatation following the staff-level approval of a $12bn loan from the Washington-based IMF, which stipulates a number of reforms including a currency devaluation.

Another IMF condition is the raising of $6bn-worth of bilateral financing before the loan is fully approved. Egypt has been hopeful that Saudi Arabia and China will be able to plug this gap, but recent tensions between Riyadh and Cairo over the war in Syria may slow this down.

The government said this week that it had secured 60 per cent of the bilateral funds, boosting foreign reserves to $19.6bn in September.

Egypt had previously hoped to conclude the IMF loan by November, but a statement from the prime minister’s office on 24 October said the loan is likely to be deposited within two months.

Cairo also recently announced it could issue about $2bn in international bonds, and will start meeting international investors in the second or third week of November, according to finance minister Amr el-Garhy.