Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said foreign reserves rose by US$302 million in May, their second successive monthly increase after having fallen every month since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. Foreign reserves climbed to US$15.52 billion at the end of May from US$15.21 billion at the end of April, CBE said. Reserves had declined by more than half since Egypt's political turmoil scared away tourists and investors, two of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency. Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Fayza Aboul Naga earlier expected foreign reserves to increase by July as economic recovery began because of the procedures that have been recently taken by the government by rationing imports and expenditures as well as increasing exports. In addition, the government has launched “Beet Al Watan" Project (The Country's House) and dollar certificates of deposit for Egyptians living abroad. The following table shows the value of Egypt's net foreign reserves: Month Value in billion US$ December 2010 36.005 January 2011 35.007 February 2011 33.321 March 2011 30.106 April 2011 28.024 May 2011 27.228 June 2011 26.564 July 2011 25.706 August 2011 25.008 September 2011 24.009 October 2011 22.071 November 2011 20.1 December 2011 18.119 January 2012 16.3 February 2012 15.7 March 2012 15.1 April 2012 15.2 May 2012 15.5
