Thousands of heavy-duty trucks loaded with coal are lined up for up to 130 kilometres from the Mongolia-China border on a sole road in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 29, 2017. (Reuters Photo)

ULAN BATOR, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's foreign exchange reserves reached 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in December, a new high since December 2016, the Bank of Mongolia, the country's central bank, said Thursday.

Mongolia's official gold reserves had increased to 18.4 tons, it added.

The growth was attributed to the implementation of the first and second phases of the IMF's Extended Fund Facility program in Mongolia, a significant increase in gold purchases by the Bank of Mongolia, the renewal of a currency swap agreement with China's central bank, it said.

The restoration of investors' confidence in Mongolia and the Mongolian government's policy such as the implementation of the Economic Recovery Program 2016-2020 and the reduction of budget expenditures also led to the increase in foreign exchange and gold reserves, according to the bank.

Experts with the Mongolian central bank predict that by the end of 2019Mongolia's foreign exchange reserves will reach 3.8 billion dollars, and by 2020, 4 billion dollars.

On Dec. 15, the IMF Executive Board completed the first and second reviews of Mongolia's performance under the Extended Fund Facility program and decided to allocate 79.1 million dollars from a 5.5 billion bailout fund to relieve Mongolia's debt burden and stabilize the local currency.

In May, the IMF approved a three-year extended arrangement under Extended Fund Facility for Mongolia in a total amount of about 434.3 million dollars to support the country's economic reform program.

The IMF has raised its 2017 growth projection for Mongolia to 3.3 percent from 2 percent.