Investment certificates issued to fund the Suez Canal project were sold out on Monday after raising around LE61 billion, central bank governor, Hisham Ramez, told Al-Nahar TV channel.

Egypt is seeking domestic funding to dig an extension of the Suez Canal, a vital source of foreign currency, as well as four tunnels beneath the canal.

Egyptians bought LE12 billion worth of certificates on Monday, the highest amount on one day since the offering started on 4 September, said Ramez.

Popular demand has been especially high for the certificates, which are sold at values of LE10, LE100, LE1000 and its multiples with private individuals representing 80 percent of the total buyers, said Ramez.

The 12 percent interest rate offered by the certificates, which are guaranteed by the CBE and the finance ministry, is higher than that offered on other such instruments in the country.

"More than $2 billion dollars in the banking system were converted into the Egyptian currency to buy the Suez Canal certificates," said Ramez in an interview on Al-Youm TV channel.

Some of the purchases in the Egyptian currency also came from outside of the banking system, he added.

Earlier this week, Egypt's postal service started selling certificates through 4,000 of its branches across the country to help banks meet the high demand.