WASHINGTON - The World Bank on Tuesday approved two billion US dollars in loans for Mexico to help it weather the global financial crisis and the swine flu pandemic.

It also approved a 650-million-US dollar loan program for El Salvador.

First, a 1.5 billion US dollar loan "aims to support economic policies to mitigate the impact of the global crisis and strengthen the medium-term framework for sustainable economic recovery and growth," the World Bank said in a statement. Working jointly with Mexican President Felipe Calderon's economic policies, the loan will help develop "the regulatory, monitoring and financial framework for fiscal and financial sustainability, labor market efficiency, and trade liberalization."

The objectives of the joint economic effort include a temporary work program that will create 600,000 jobs in Mexico by the end of 2010, and efforts to increase the gross domestic product by 10.3 percent through non-petroleum revenues.

Another 491-million-US dollar World Bank loan is destined for Mexico's fight against the swine flu pandemic and includes an inoculation drive for 10 million people.

The World Bank also announced a three-year 650-million-US dollar loan program to help El Salvador deal with the repercussions of the global financial crisis and reduce the level of poverty in the country.