Egypt's net foreign reserves fell to $19.04 billion at the end of October from $19.591 billion recorded in the month before, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Tuesday.

Egypt had roughly $36 billion in reserves before the 2011 uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak and ushered in a period of political turmoil that scared away tourists and foreign investors, two key sources of foreign exchange.

Central bank governor Tarek Amer has repeatedly said the bank aims to increase the country's foreign reserves to $25 billion by end of this year.

“We are expecting the reserves to be raised by $6 billion in the coming months,” Amer said in a presser last week following the floating of the Egyptian pound.

Amer also said during the presser that the CBE had provided local lenders with $1.2 billion to import basic commodities for six months.

Egypt has a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a three-year $12 billion loan package aimed at trimming a budget deficit and stabilizing the currency market. The deal has not been signed off by the IMF yet.