Washington  - The International Monetary Fund said late Monday in Washington that it would pursue rapid authorization for a requested 10.4-billion-dollar credit line being sought by Colombia.

After receiving a formal request from Colombian officials for a precautionary, flexible one-year arrangement, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn issued a statement of his intent "to move ahead rapidly in seeking approval by the (IMF)'s executive board of Colombia's request."

"Colombia has a sustained record of sound economic policies and has very strong economic fundamentals and institutional and policy frameworks," he said. "The Colombian authorities' have responded appropriately to the global financial crisis and have demonstrated a commitment to maintaining this solid record."

The so-called flexible credit line was created last month for countries that the IMF considers to have strong fundamentals, sound government policies and track records of implementing such policies. Unlike other loans from the emergency lending agency, the credit line requires governments to have met those tough criteria before it can be issued.

"I am very pleased by this positive response to the invitation I extended to strongly performing economies to use this new instrument to bolster international confidence on the strength and sustainability of their policy framework," Strauss-Kahn said. (dpa)