Fund statements said the international lending institution had approved a $957 million payment for Indonesia and a $140 million one for Thailand, the first two countries to be gripped by the debilitating Asian economic flu.

It approved a $1 billion disbursement on Monday for South Korea, the third victim of the international malaise and recipient of the biggest single Fund loan.

"I commend the Thai authorities for diligently implementing an appropriate policy framework and consolidating the stabilisation gains achieved earlier in the year," IMF managing director Michel Camdessus said in a statement announcing the Thai loan.

The fund said its decision on Thailand would pave the way for the release of $500 million in bilateral and multilateral loans. The money, like that forthe other two one-time tiger economies, will help boost central bank reserves and pay for important economic reforms.

The IMF, effectively acting as lender of last resort to Asia's troubled economies, put together international rescue deals worth some $120 billion for the three countries last year, including $36 billion of its own cash.

It said the money would help the three crisis-hit countries rebuild their shattered economies, although progress had been mixed. The IMF's statement on the disbursement to Indonesia was much more cautious than those for Thailand or South Korea.

"While there is scope for progressively lowering interest rates further, the authorities need to remain vigilant and proceed cautiously," deputy managing director Alassane Ouattara said, noting that Indonesia still faced challenges in reforming its banking system and corporate sector.

The agency set up to restructure ailing banks needed to be independent of the government and recapitalisation of banks needed to be done in atransparent way, he added.

The IMF masterminded a $42 billion international rescue package for Indonesia last November. Payments, like those for all IMF loans, depend on the country meeting targets for structural and economic reform.

The IMF also offered a muted note of caution on Thailand, recipient of a $17 billion international rescue package, and it said progress on bankruptcy laws and bank reform were needed to generate a sustained economic recovery there.

It warned on Monday that investor and consumer confidence were still weak in South Korea and that the speed of recovery would also depend on the speed of corporate and bank reform.

South Korea, the world's 11th largest economy and the recipient of a record-breaking $58 billion rescue package, has already started paying back the money it received from the IMF last year, starting with the portion of its $21 billion IMF loan extended at the highest interest rates.

The IMF expects both Thailand and South Korea to return to growth next year. Itwill issue new economic forecasts next week in a new document summarising global economic prospects.

IMF officials have already said that they will revise growth forecasts somewhat down to take account of a new chain of economic problems -- Russia's debt default and currency devaluation, and Brazil's request for international help.

But they say the revision, from a 2.5 per cent rise in global economic output predicted in September, will not be a steep one.