IMF approves 126m euro disbursement for bailed-out Cyprus

The International Monetary Fund has approved the disbursement of another 126 million euros ($140.5 million) for bailed-out Cyprus, saying that the island nation's reform program continues to be "a success."

The IMF said Wednesday total disbursements so far amount to around 882 million euros ($983.4 million) from a contribution of around 1 billion euros. Another 9 billion euros is being provided by the European Union's bailout fund.

IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said Cyprus' economy fared better than expected in the first half of the year.

But he urged more efforts to deal with a huge number of bad loans, cautious spending in light of a high public debt and to expedite privatizations.

Cyprus' Mar. 2013 rescue deal included a grab of uninsured deposits from its two biggest banks.

[AP]