Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Egypt’s foreign-currency bank deposits climbed 15 percent in 2011 as customers sought the safety of dollars after a popular uprising.

Deposits rose to the equivalent of 181 billion Egyptian pounds ($30 billion), according to central bank data. Deposits in Egyptian pounds increased 1 percent to 681.2 billion pounds.

The country’s international reserves tumbled 50 percent last year to $18.1 billion after foreign investors cut their holdings of Egyptian treasury bills and bonds. The pound has lost 3.8 percent since the start of last year.

--Editors: Shaji Mathew, Andrew J. Barden

To contact the reporter on this story: Alaa Shahine in Dubai at asalha@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net -0- Feb/01/2012 05:53 GMT