Egypt’s economists are lauding a new law that grants residency to foreigners in the North African country in return for bank deposits in hard currency. They say the new law will help ease the country’s foreign currency crunch and boost the national economy.

The law was approved April 27 by the Egyptian parliament’s Defense and National Security Committee with its head saying that it will serve Egypt’s interests and will not negatively affect national security.

Kamel Amer, the head of the committee, noted that the law grants residency in return for deposits, which is different from granting citizenship in return for investments.

According to the new law, foreigners can only apply for citizenship after five years of residency. Amer said that citizenship will be granted only if the relevant conditions are met and after a security clearance. The parliament’s committee did not announce the amount of the deposit that foreigners are required to put in Egypt’s banks if they are seeking Egyptian citizenship. Local media reports claimed that the amount a foreigner must put in an Egyptian bank to get a five-year residency permit was $500,000. The foreigner can then give up that dollar deposit to the government if he or she wants to obtain citizenship after five years of residency.