Islamabad, March 27 (IANS): Pakistan's economy is gradually gaining strength and its short-term vulnerabilities are also receding, a senior official from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

The deputy managing director of IMF, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, made the comment in a statement issued on Saturday after the fund's executive board approved the next tranche of $502 million for Pakistan.

Furusawa urged Islamabad to continue implementing economic reforms to strengthen these gains, Dawn online reported.

"Building on these gains, further progress, including in the area of structural reforms, is needed to generate strong and inclusive growth and make the economy more resilient and competitive," he said.

On Friday, the executive board announced the completion of the tenth review of Pakistan's economic performance under a three-year programme supported by an Extended Fund Facility arrangement.

The board also approved the country's request for modification of the end-March 2016 performance criterion on the state bank's stock of net foreign currency swaps/forward position.

The decision enables the immediate disbursement of about $502.6 million, bringing the total disbursements to Pakistan under this arrangement to $5.53 billion.