IMF Says Executive Board Approves 2-Year $9.8Bln Flexible Credit Line for Colombia

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2022) The Executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a new two-year flexible credit line for Colombia in the amount of $9.8 billion, designed for crisis prevention, the IMF announced on Friday.

"The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved today a successor two-year arrangement for Colombia under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) in an amount equivalent to SDR 7.1557 billion (about US$9.8 billion) and noted the cancellation by Colombia of the previous arrangement. The Colombian authorities stated their intention to treat the new arrangement as precautionary," the IMF said in a press release.

The IMF noted in the release that the approval is Colombia's ninth FCL arrangement since 2009.

Colombia qualified for the FCL because it has demonstrated very strong economic fundamentals and institutional policy frameworks and has been implementing very strong policies, the release also said.

The FCL mechanism allows its recipients do use the credit line funds at any time and to use them to address both actual and potential balance of payments in order to boost market confidence, the release added.

Drawings under the FCL are not tied to any negative conditionality as in other IMF programs, according to the release.