IMF approves debt relief for 25 countries over Covid-19

The International Monetary Fund has announced immediate debt relief for 25 poor countries to help them free up funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

According to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva ” the debt relief  will provide grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months”

And the debt relief will be funded by the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, which was first set up to combat the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2015 and has been repurposed to help countries fend off Covid-19

Countries that will receive debt service relief today are: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, D.R., The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo, and Yemen.

IMF has also approved $1bn in emergency funding for Ghana and $442m for Senegal to enable both countries to respond to the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

SOURCE: Moneyline