The International Monetary Fund's executive board on Monday approved a one-year, $10.5-billion-credit line for Colombia to help the Latin American country through the global recession. Bogota officials asked for the emergency loan as a precaution and will not necessarily draw on the money unless Colombia's economic situation worsens in the coming months, according to a report of DPA. The IMF has seen its role as the global crisis lender dramatically expanded during the current recession. Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations agreed at a summit in April to triple the IMF's lending resources to $750 billion. Colombia is the third country to be approved for a loan under the IMF's so-called flexible credit line, a new emergency lending programme that was created in March for countries with sound fiscal policies. The others are Mexico and Poland.
