WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's initial loan payment to Egypt will be about $2.5 billion, a senior IMF official said on Friday, adding that he hoped to secure board approval for the program within the next month.

Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF's Middle East department, said that the $12 billion loan program would contain conditions that include reducing Egypt's budget deficit and making its currency exchange rate system more market-driven.

The IMF is "making good progress" on talks with China, Saudi Arabia and some G7 countries to provide about $5 billion to $6 billion in additional bilateral financing needed for the program's first year.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)