Washington - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved a new programme to provide emergency loans to countries facing serious cash shortages in the wake of an ongoing financial crisis.

Countries with a "track record" of solid economic policies can now apply for three-month loans without the usual conditions attached, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. Typical IMF loans come with certain policy expectations.

Strauss-Kahn said "some" countries had already expressed interest in the so-called Short-Term Lending Facility. Countries can borrow up to five times what they put into the IMF's 200-billion-dollar fund.

To date, the IMF has been operating on an ad-hoc basis, providing emergency loans to Iceland, Ukraine and Hungary, where the governments have all faced serious cash shortfalls.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick earlier this month said that about 30 countries could be facing balance of payment problems. (dpa)