CAIRO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Egypt received a 1.2-billion-U.S.-dollar loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday, the government said, following the fund's approval of the fourth review of the country's economic reform program.

"The tranche due for the IMF fourth review, valued at 1.2 billion dollars, has been disbursed," the cabinet confirmed in a statement.

The disbursement is part of an expanded 8-billion-dollar Extended Fund Facility agreed in March 2024, which augmented an original 3-billion, 46-month program approved in late 2022.

The announcement followed a meeting earlier on Thursday between Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Mohamed Maait, the IMF Executive Board member representing the Arab group and Egypt's former finance minister, the statement added.

The meeting followed the IMF Executive Board's approval of the review and confirmed the reform program was helping restore macroeconomic stability, boost foreign currency reserves, lower inflation and revive growth, according to the statement.

The officials also discussed the IMF board's recent approval of a separate 1.3-billion-dollar loan for Egypt under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), designed to provide long-term financing on favorable terms.

Madbouly and Maait reviewed preparations for the upcoming fifth review under the IMF-supported program and discussed the regional and global economic outlook ahead of upcoming IMF meetings this month, according to the statement.

The North African nation, grappling with a chronic foreign currency shortage and high debt, has enacted austerity measures, including a steep currency devaluation and interest rate hikes, to meet IMF conditions. Enditem

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