The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Friday that its Executive Board has approved a three-year arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Portugal in the amount of 23.742 billion IMF special drawing right (SDR), equivalent to about 26 billion euros, in support of Portugal's economic recovery.

This front-loaded program makes 5.6 billion SDR (about 6.1 billion euros) "immediately available" to Portugal from the IMF, the Washington-based financial agency said in a Friday statement.

In 2011, total IMF financing will amount to about 12.6 billion euros and will be partnered with about 25.2 billion euros committed by the European Union, noted the statement.

"The Portuguese authorities have put forward a program that is economically well-balanced and has growth and job creation at its center," said John Lipsky, IMF's acting managing director.

"It addresses the fundamental problem in Portugal, low growth, with a policy mix based on restoring competitiveness through structural reforms, ensuring a balanced fiscal consolidation path, and stabilizing the financial sector," Lipsky added.

He held that the latest IMF move to support Portugal will contribute to the broad international effort to help foster stability to the Euro Area and secure recovery in the global economy.

Established in 1974, the EFF mechanism is typically three years in duration and aims to provide assistance to countries experiencing serious medium-term payments imbalances due to structural impediments in production and trade.