CAIRO, May 4 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's net foreign reserves reached $17 billion at the end of April, which marks an increase by $449 million, the central bank said on Wednesday.

The central bank's reserves are made up of foreign currency, in addition to gold.

The foreign currency reserves increased by $408 million in April compared to March while the value of the gold increased by $33 million.

Egypt has been witnessing a foreign currency crisis due to pressures on its reserves as a result of a weakening tourism sector in addition to the decline in Suez Canal revenues.

Egypt's foreign reserves reached $16.5 billion by the end of March, still less than half of the foreign reserves the country had before the 2011 Uprising when they were almost $36 billion.

On Mar. 14, the central bank devalued the Egyptian pound currency by 14.5 per cent against the U.S. dollar. Two days later, it raised the Egyptian pound by 7 piastres, to reach EGP 8.78 against the dollar.