The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Sunday it had reached a preliminary agreement for supporting Tanzania to ease the impact of the global financial crisis on its export-driven economy.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Tanzania's request for financial support under the high-access component of the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF) would be considered by the fund's board before the end of May.

An IMF staff mission and the Tanzanian authorities have reached broad agreement on policies that will help Tanzania address the impact of the global financial crisis, he said in a statement.

“These policies aim at bolstering the Tanzanian economy which has been affected by declining traditional exports and tourism, and protecting the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Tanzania's economic growth was forecast to slow down to around 4-5% this year from a 7.4% expansion in 2008, the IMF said.

International Monetary Fund