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Egypt's Central Bank said Sunday that it had received sizeable deposits from Libya and Qatar, as CairoÌýgrapples with a foreign currency shortage.

The two depositsÌý- one of $1 billion from Qatar, the other for $700 million from Libya – came at the end of 2022, the bank said in a report released on Sunday, according toÌý°®Âþµº's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

A shortage in US dollars in particular hasÌýbrought parts of the Egyptian economy to a standstill. Cairo has had to defer on payments for wheat and other essentialsÌýfor months as it struggles to pay suppliers.

The deposits bringÌýthe bank's foreign reserve levels to $34.7 billion. Qatar has a total of $3 billion in Egypt's central bank, and Libya $900 million.

The foreign currency shortage is only one of Egypt's many economic woes. It is also having to contend with massive repayments for its external borrowing.

In a bid to generate cash, the government is looking to sell off state assets, with Gulf countries including Qatar looking like the most likely potential buyers.

The announcement of new deposits comes as Cairo readies itself for a visit from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the first week of July.

The IMF approved a $3 billion loan for Egypt late last year.

That loan will serve only as a small help to Egypt. The Washington-based agency that Egypt faces a financing gap of $17 billion for the next four years.