NAIROBI, Nov 5 Reuters The International Monetary Fund has raised Ethiopia39;s net international reserves target to facilitate payments of upcoming hard currency bills, the Fund said.

The East African nation secured a 3.4 billion, fouryear financing program from the IMF in July after carrying out a series of reforms including floating its birr currency . It is also in the midst of a fresh push to put its debt restructuring back on track.

An increase in nearterm target is warranted by Ethiopia39;s vulnerabilities and heightened uncertainty around outlook, the IMF said in a report published late on Monday.

Lowerthanexpected volumes of hard currency sales by the central bank through auctions and higher gold exports contributed to an overperformance of the net international reserves target for August, the IMF said.

The net international reserves stood at 1.3 billion in midAugust, more than double the target of 630 million, the Fund said.

It raised the endJune 2025 target by 300 million to 400 million, to help create a buffer for the country to settle maturing letters of credit for fuel imports issued before reforms started.

The flotation of the birr currency resulted in the convergence of the official and the black market rates, the IMF said, but market activities had picked up at a slower pace than expected, leading to persistent unmet demand for dollars.

Ethiopia plans to reach a deal with bilateral creditors by yearend, the Fund said, followed by a deal with its…