The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will allocate $500 million in grant-based debt service relief to help two dozen countries cope with the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement on Monday.
"Today, I am pleased to say that our Executive Board approved immediate debt service relief to 25 of the IMF's member countries 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."
According to Georgieva, the debt relief will be provided to the "most vulnerable" INF members, including Afghanistan, Yemen, and also Africa's poorest states - Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo in West Africa.
She noted that China and the Netherlands are also making significant contributions to the relief trust.
"The CCRT can currently provide about US$500 million in grant-based debt service relief, including the recent US$185 million pledge by the UK and US$100 million provided by Japan as immediately available resources. Others, including China and the Netherlands, are also stepping forward with important contributions. I urge other donors to help us replenish the Trust's resources and boost further our ability to provide additional debt service relief for a full two years to our poorest member countries", she said.
"I urge other donors to help us replenish the Trust's resources and boost further our ability to provide additional debt service relief for a full two years to our poorest member countries", Georgieva added.