Washington  - Latin American and Caribbean countries will get 90 billion dollars in loans over the next two years from regional development banks as an extra buffer against the global financial crisis, the World Bank said Wednesday.

The loans are meant to keep social programmes running in countries that are facing recessions and serious budget shortfalls. The World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and three other regional lending agencies are joining in the effort.

The global downturn is expected to nudge Latin America into recession this year, according to a report issued Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund.

South America and Mexico are expected to contract by 1.6 per cent in 2009 before recovering to a 1.6-per-cent growth rate in 2010, the IMF said.

"Latin America and the Caribbean have achieved substantial economic and social progress over the last five years, and we must ensure that this is not lost because of the external shock of the global crisis," said World Bank President Robert Zoellick. "We need to avoid a social and human crisis." (dpa)