DUBAI  - Egypt has signed a $639 million loan with the Arab Monetary Fund, a regional lender, to support reforms in the public finance sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, the United Arab Emirates' state news agency WAM said on Wednesday.

The loan agreement, signed last week, is to support reform efforts and measures taken to help limit the economic and financial repercussions of COVID-19.

The pandemic has pressured Egypt's economy, with tourism - a key source of revenue - sharply lower, cheaper gas prices and worker remittances coming under threat with the decline of oil revenues in Gulf Arab states, where many Egyptians are employed.

"The fund is keen to support the efforts of its member countries to implement economic, financial and structural reforms, to meet various challenges, through a number of means, including financing the needs of the balance of payments and public budgets, and financing trade through its affiliate, the Arab Trade Financing Programme," WAM said.

The Arab Monetary Fund is studying financing requests from other member countries, WAM said, without naming them.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Alex Richardson) ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204))