“Could anyone have imagined 10 months ago that there would be $35 billion,” Sisi said on Monday.

:: Egypt’s foreign reserves are close to $35 billion, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisisaid on Monday.

The figure brings the country to about where it was before a 2011 uprising drove tourists and foreign investors away, drying up foreign reserves. Egypt roughly had $36 billion in reserves before the uprising.

“How much do you think are central bank reserves? I will not say – who said 35? The answer is that it’s very close to 35 billion … could anyone have imagined 10 months ago that there would be $35 billion,” Sisi said at a press conference on Monday.

The central bank said earlier this month that Egypt’s foreign reserves reached $31.305 as of the end of June.

Reserves have been climbing since Egypt floated the pound currency in November as part of a $12 billion International Monetary Fund lending program aimed at boosting the economy.

Egypt’s economy has been struggling since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak, but the government hopes the three-year IMF loan will put the country on the right track.