WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund said Monday its executive board approved a credit of 7.6 billion dollars for Pakistan, the Fund's first rescue in Asia since the global financial crisis began.

The credit will 'support the country's economic stabilization program,' the IMF said in a brief statement.

The Fund and Pakistan had already announced an agreement in principle earlier this month on the package, aimed at staving off a balance of payments crisis that has raised the prospect of the violence-hit nation defaulting on its foreign debts.

Pakistan's precarious financial situation has caused worldwide alarm due to its role as a key ally in the US-led war on terror and its position as the Islamic world's only nuclear power.

The Pakistani rupee has slumped against the dollar and the country's stock market has fallen sharply after foreign investors took flight amid a global credit crisis in which capital has flooded from emerging markets to safe havens, like the United States.

IMF staff and the government agreed on the reform package on Nov. 15, passing it to the executive board for approval.

The international community fear an economic meltdown in nuclear-armed Pakistan could fan popular support for al Qaeda and other militant groups.