Washington  - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approved a one-year loan of 47 billion dollars for Mexico to help the country weather the global economic crisis.

Mexico is the first country to agree to a loan under the IMF's so- called flexible credit line, a new programme that was backed by leaders of the world's 20 leading economies during a summit in London earlier this month.

The Group of 20 (G20) summit pledged an extra 500 billion dollars to the IMF to help developing and even some wealthy nations that are facing massive budget shortfalls in the current economic climate. (dpa)