CAIRO (Reuters) – The central bank confirmed on Tuesday it had intervened in the market to strengthen the Egyptian pound, which has climbed against the dollar for the first time in a political crisis gripping Egypt.

“We intervened in the market,” Deputy Governor Hisham Ramez said by telephone, while declining to say by how much.

The currency had been tumbling almost consistently since the eruption of political protests on January 25. The market, however, was closed all of last week and only reopened on Sunday.

The pound was trading as strong as 5.87 to the dollar on Tuesday, up from its 5.952 close on Monday.