Egypt’s Central Bank says foreign currency reserves had increased to $20.1bn at the end of June.

This is a $1bn increase from the previous month. Reserves stood at about $36bn before the 2011 unrest, as Egypt’s economy slowly recovers.

The supply of foreign currency reserves in the banking system remains highly dependent on Gulf support. Grants from Gulf donors totalled $14.7bn in total in the past two years, according to central bank balance of payments data, which was slightly more than Egypt’s earnings from tourism during this period.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have also bolstered the central bank’s foreign currency reserves by placing long-term deposits. These included a total of $6bn in April, which helped push foreign exchange reserves up to $16.8bn.