CAIRO, Jan 12 (Aswat Masriya) - Cabinet approved on Wednesday International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan agreement and referred it to the president ahead of parliamentary review.

State newspaper Ahram quoted finance minister Amr El-Garhy as saying: "The cabinet reviewed the main reform aspects of Egypt's economy which include budget deficit, foreign reserves, and internal debt," in a press conference held on Wednesday.

In November 2016, IMF board approved a $12 billion loan to Egypt to support its economic reform programme.

The IMF will disburse an initial $2.75 billion loan tranche to Egypt and the remaining amount will be phased over the duration of the program, subject to five reviews.

Today we reviewed the achievements of the first six months and the deficit was 5% compared to 6.2% in last year," Al-Garhy said. He also added that tax revenues are expected to reach EGP 180 billions.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in an official statement last November that she would recommend that the board approves Egypt's request in support of its "ambitious economic reform program."

Egypt embarked on successive economic reforms over the past few months with the aim of cutting the budget deficit and addressing an acute dollar shortage. The latest reforms included floating the currency and cutting fuel subsidies.