Mideast Egypt
An Egyptian anti-riot soldier stands under a banner showing Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and barbed wire near the presidential palace in ...
An Egyptian anti-riot soldier stands under a banner showing Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and barbed wire near the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. The official approval of Egypt's disputed, Islamist-backed constitution held out little hope of stabilizing the country after two years of turmoil and Islamist President Mohammed Morsi may now face a more immediate crisis with the economy falling deeper into distress. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Mideast Egypt
An Egyptian police officer laughs with protesters as he secures a road leading to the Shura Council during a speech by President Mohammed Morsi in Ca...
An Egyptian police officer laughs with protesters as he secures a road leading to the Shura Council during a speech by President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. Egypt�s Islamist president warned Saturday against any unrest that could harm the drive to repair the country�s battered economy in a sharply worded speech that urged the opposition to work with his government. Mohammed Morsi made the comments in his first speech to the newly convened upper house of parliament, which he said will have full legislative powers until a new lower house of parliament is elected next year.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Mideast Egypt
An Egyptian woman shouts anti-Mohammed Morsi slogans as soldiers block a road leading to the Shura Council where the president addressed the upper ho...
An Egyptian woman shouts anti-Mohammed Morsi slogans as soldiers block a road leading to the Shura Council where the president addressed the upper house of parliament in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. Egypt�s Islamist president warned Saturday against any unrest that could harm the drive to repair the country�s battered economy in a sharply worded speech that urged the opposition to work with his government. Mohammed Morsi made the comments in his first speech to the newly convened upper house of parliament, which he said will have full legislative powers until a new lower house of parliament is elected next year. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Mideast Egypt
Egyptian women shout anti-Mohammed Morsi slogans during a protest in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, ...
Egyptian women shout anti-Mohammed Morsi slogans during a protest in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. Egypt�s Islamist president warned Saturday against any unrest that could harm the drive to repair the country�s battered economy in a sharply worded speech that urged the opposition to work with his government. Mohammed Morsi made the comments in his first speech to the newly convened upper house of parliament, which he said will have full legislative powers until a new lower house of parliament is elected next year.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
The Central Bank of Egypt says the country's foreign currency reserves are at a "critical" minimum level.
The bank says reserves are at the minimum level needed to pay Egypt's international obligations. It did not give a current figure. In statistics from November, the reserves stood at $15 billion, less than half what they were before last year's uprising, even with help of deposits from Qatar.
The bank said in a statement Saturday that it has introduced a new auction system for buying and selling U.S. dollars after a rush by Egyptians to sell the pound in exchange for dollars over concerns of devaluation.
Reserves have tumbled since foreign investment dried up amid the country's turmoil the past two years. Much of the reserves have gone toward propping up the currency.
