CAIRO - Egypt's foreign reserves rose moderately to $37.02 billion at the end of December from $36.723 billion at the end of November, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Cairo's foreign reserves have been climbing since the country secured a $12 billion, three-year International Monetary Fund loan programme in 2016 in a bid to lure back foreign investors and revive its ailing economy.

The country's foreign reserves at the end of December 2016 were $24.265 billion.

(Reporting by Nadine Awadalla and John Davison; Editing by Alison Williams) ((John.Davison@thomsonreuters.com;))