The total exposure of banks in Egypt to Dubai World's holding company is no more than $20 million, Al-Alam Al-Youm newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing the Central Bank of Egypt.

Dubai rattled the financial world on November 25 when it asked creditors of Dubai World to agree to a standstill on billions of dollars of debt as a first step to restructuring.

"The amount of debts due to banks working in Egypt from the Dubai World holding company does not exceed $20 million," the paper quoted the central bank as saying, adding this referred to Egyptian banks or units of foreign banks.

Banks in Egypt had covered their Dubai World loans in full with provisions and reserves allocated to deal with sudden crises, the central bank said.

The newspaper did not say whether the figure included debt held by Dubai World subsidiaries such as Dubai Ports World, which has a controlling stake in Egypt's Sokhna Port.

The central bank was not available for comment.

Egypt's main stock market index recorded its biggest daily drop in over a year on Monday on fears over the reach of the crisis. – Reuters