The International Monetary Fund and Ethiopia made progress in talks on the fund's support for the country's economic reform program and discussions will continue in Washington next week, the fund said on Friday.

Officials from the IMF have been in Ethiopia since late March, when a fund spokesman said they were doing technical work to prepare for a potential IMF-supported program.

"We made progress in discussing the scope for IMF support for this reform program," Alvaro Piris, who led the IMF mission visit, said in a statement.

"Discussions will continue in Washington, D.C., next week, in the context of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, and in coming weeks."

In late March, the IMF said it welcomed the progress Ethiopia had made in restoring lasting peace and stability following an agreement in November to cease hostilities.

(With input from Reuters)