WASHINGTON, June 29, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - The IMF board on Monday approved a $1 billion, three-year loan for Uganda to help the African nation recover from the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new aid provides $258 million immediately to help the government cover spending, and comes on top of an emergency loan of nearly $500 million last year, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement.

The pandemic upended years of progress in reducing poverty, but the Washington-based crisis lender noted a modest recovery underway even amid continuing uncertainty and risks to the outlook.

"Uganda's economy has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, which reversed decade-long gains in poverty alleviation and opened up fiscal and external financing gaps," IMF Deputy Managing Director Tao Zhang said in a statement.

The government will work on debt reduction and investments in infrastructure "while increasing social spending, including for vaccines" and reducing poverty, he said.