The International Monetary Fund, which has mounted rescues from Hungary to Pakistan in the past six months, approved a $17.1bn loan for Romania to help the eastern European country get through the global economic crisis, Bloomberg reports.

The arrangement made $6.6bn (£4.4bn, €5bn) available immediately, with the rest in instalments following quarterly reviews, the IMF said in a statement on Tuesday. The two-year standby loan aimed to cushion the effects of a sharp drop in capital inflows resulting from the financial crisis, the Washington-based lender said.