Unic Press UK: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the disbursement of funds to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility/Rapid Financing Instrument to help several countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The details are:
- US$114.49 million (SDR 83.66 million) to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility to help Niger.
- SDR 84.28 million (about US$115.3 million or 70 percent of its SDR quota) for Burkina Faso Under the the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF).
- US$ 389 million (SDR 287.2 million, 100 percent of quota) for El Salvador under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).
- SDR 738 million (about US$1 billion) to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) to assist Ghana.
- A Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) equivalent to SDR 215.7 million (about US$294.7 million, 67 percent of quota) and a disbursement under the RCF equivalent to SDR 107.9 million (US$147.4 million, 33 percent of quota) to help Senegal.
- SDR108 million (about US$147 million) to be drawn under the RFI to assist Gabon .
- SDR 139.3 million (around US$190.5 million or Euro 174 million, 100 percent of quota) emergency support for Albania under the RFI.
- SDR 41.3 million (around US$ 56.5 million or Euro 51.6 million, 50 percent of quota) in emergency support for the Republic of Kosovo under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).
- SDR 545.2 million (US$745 million or 100 percent of quota) for Tunisia under the RFI.
- SDR 140.3 million (about EUR 176.53 million, US$191.83 million, 100 percent quota) for the Republic of North Macedonia under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).
As part of its intervention to tackle the economic challenges thrust by this killer disease, COVID-19, the IMF had, on Monday, approved immediate debt relief for 25 Countries – 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 – under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) as part of the Fund’s response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Announcing the Fund’s debt relief approval, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, said:
“This provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months and will help them channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts.”
