Egypt’s central bank governor, Hisham Ramez, has flown to Abu Dhabi in a bid to secure much-needed financial support as the country’s economic position continues to deteriorate.

The central bank has also taken an unusual step of seeking deposits from the public. It launched a new “Egypt Support” to solicit deposits from ordinary Egyptians.

Ramez’s Gulf trip follows the release of new figures from the Central Bank of Egypt, announced on 7 July that showed that international reserves had dropped to $14.9bn at the end of June, from $16bn a month earlier. Foreign exchange reserves fell to $11.2bn covering just over 3 months of goods imports and approximately 2.5 months of goods and services imports.

In 2011, the UAE pledged $3bn of financial support for Egypt, although it has yet to be transferred. Qatar lent $7bn to Egypt following the election of Mohamed Mursi in early 2012. It is currently unknown if Ramez will visit other Gulf capitals to solicit financial support.

Egypt’s worsening economic position is matched by its political crisis. Rival demonstrations by supporters of Mursi, who was ousted by the military on 4 July, and supporters of the army’s intervention, occurred across Egypt on 7 July.

Mansour Adly, sworn in as interim president on 4 July, has been tasked with appointing a new prime minister and overseeing a transition to fresh elections. However, efforts to appoint Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Laureate opposition leader, as prime minister have floundered. Adly and his military backers are trying to act with the support of a broad base of opposition groups, but getting a consensus of key issues is already proving difficult. ElBaradei’s appointment faces stiff opposition from the conservative Salafi Nour party, while the Tamarod (or Rebel) movement, is adamant that ElBaradei take up the role.