In a visit to Costa Rica yesterday, International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the fund would grant as much credit to Costa Rica as the country needs to weather a global financial crisis.

While Strauss-Kahn said Costa Rica's economy is sound and does not yet need help, he said the fund would open a credit line for Costa Rica in 2009 if slowed foreign investment leads to a shortage of dollars and puts pressure on the colón's value. He added that no country will escape the financial crisis, which he said would worsen next year.

“You may be the best driver in the country, but if other drivers on the road are not good, you may have an accident, ” he said. “And that's why you need insurance. For the insurer – and I am the insurer – it's much better to insure good drivers than bad drivers.

Strauss-Kahn discussed the possible credit in a meeting yesterday with President Oscar Arias, Central Bank President Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez and Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga.

“What we have discussed with the Central Bank and the government is that if they need something, they will have enough, ” Strauss-Kahn said.

Costa Rica has negotiated $500 million credit lines from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, Zúñiga said.

For now, he said, Costa Rica's problems – a slowdown in economic activity, a liquidity crunch and a dip in employment – are not as serious as what other countries are facing.

“What will happen in two, or four or six months? We don't know,” he said. “It's good to be prepared.”