April 19, 2020

Anna Murray 

On April 13th, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a declaration, claiming that IMF Executive Board endorsed instant debt service relief for its 25 member countries, to assist them channel more of scanty financial resources on essential emergency medical and other relief efforts, and to confront the influence of the coronavirus pandemic.

The relief was supported by IMF's revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT), set up in February 2015 during the Ebola outbreak and adjusted in March 2020 to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Presently the CCRT can provide around 500 million US dollars in grant-based debt service relief, contributions among which are from the U.K., Japan, China and the Netherlands. However, to furnish the Trust's resources to provide extra debt service relief for the full two-year period, while enabling the CCRT funded for future needs, will require a commitment of about US$1.4 billion.

The 25 countries that will obtain debt service relief include Central African Republic, Chad, Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Congo, D.R., Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo, and Yemen.

Photo:Webshot.