BOGOTA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a credit of 6 billion U.S. dollars for countries in Central America and the Caribbean to help them fend off possible recessions, IDB authorities said here Tuesday.

    The initiative seeks to avoid a "systematic crisis" at the financial market of the region by providing loans of 500 million dollars for each nation, IDB President Luis Moreno said in an interview with a Colombian broadcasting station.

    The loan will be given to central banks of medium or small countries in Central America and the Caribbean, Moreno said.

    The U.S. recession has provoked sharp drops in world bourses. On Tuesday, major stock markets rebounded as small and medium banks got capital injections amid government rescue plans.

    Moreno said the financial crisis, which erupted in the United States and swiftly spread to the rest of the world, also put great pressures on the Latin American countries, which have close economic links with the United States.

    Morenos said the IDB would also consider aid for bigger nations like Colombia and study the possibility of raising its lending capacity next year.

    The IDB made the decision at a meeting with the treasury ministers of the G-7, the group of seven richest countries in the world including Germany, Britain, Canada, the United States, Japan, Italy and France.