Egypt’s central bank has raised the amount of foreign currency that individuals can send abroad.

Individuals will be able to make a one-time foreign currency transfer of $100,000 this year, although it is unclear if that will continue to be the case over the following years as well.

Egypt’s foreign reserves have shrunk in recent years, as investors pulled money out of the politically unstable country.

Its reserves dropped from about $35bn (equivalent to eight months-worth of imports) in January 2011 to $17bn at the end of 2013, leading to many investors being unable to repatriate their funds.

More than $10bn in aid sent by GCC countries has helped relieve some of that pressure, raising foreign reserves by $2bn at the end of December, compared with July, when an interim government took over power. It also allowed the government to pay off some of its debt and stabilise the Egyptian pound.

In September, US credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s raised Egypt’s term rating to B- (long term) and B (short term), after Gulf aid reduced the likelihood of a balance-of-payments crisis.

Another US ratings agency, Moody’s Investors Service, said in October that it does not foresee an upward swing in the country’s Caa1 rating in the near future.